


The Bridge Between

by Dreadbeasts



Series: Bridges [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 2 nerds and a baby, F/M, Fan season 3, Gen, Just writing what I want to happen, Officially an AU now, Very mild body horror, adventures in xadia, callum's dad speculation, canon-divergent, half-elf callum, very slow burn, worldbuilding based on speculation, you've met human rayla now meet elf callum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2020-09-26 06:17:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 43,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20385046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreadbeasts/pseuds/Dreadbeasts
Summary: When it becomes apparent that Callum is going to have to infiltrate a Xadian mage academy to learn anything useful, things start to go sideways. First, he has to convince Rayla's uncle that he isn't a bloodthirsty dark mage. Then, he has to convince a bunch of other teenage elves that he's one of them.And that was before he met his dad.





	1. The Sun King

Dawn rose over the precipice of the canyon, illuminating a long, golden form ahead of them, and Rayla’s heart sank. They had made it, hadn’t they? After all the hardship and fighting and heartbreak, finally she had brought Callum and Zym into Xadia, only for their hopes to be dashed.

“Oh no,” she breathed, holding out an arm to stop Callum from plunging ahead without caution. The archdragon before them lifted his massive crowned head, and turned to face them. His eyes were scarred, singed closed by the blast of dark fire he’d endured at his downfall all those years ago. A fallen king, but not one easily forgotten. She named him, reverent and fearful all at once.

“Sol Regem.”

The former Dragon King was, in fact, blind, but Rayla didn’t doubt that his nose or hearing were as keen as ever, if not more. She had mere seconds to act. “Follow my lead!” she hissed to Callum, urgently ushering Zym back into the backpack (which he was quickly outgrowing). The wyrmling whimpered, but with a stern ‘don’t even think about questioning me right now’ glare from Rayla, he curled up and tucked his nose under the feathers of his tail with a sad expression in his eyes.

“I smell humans.” Sol Regem was standing now, his massive form blocking out the sunlight and casting him in silhouette. Callum swallowed hard behind Rayla, and clutched the backpack with Zym inside tighter. For her part, Rayla steeled herself, squared her shoulders, and stepped forward.

“Th-that would be us, your grace,” she replied. Her voice quavered more than she would have liked, so she cleared her throat. “We’ve returned from the human kingdoms and probably reek from our journey.”

Sol Regem’s lip curled as he snarled, a deep rumble that shook the canyon and stirred something animal within them all, urging them to run and hide. “I am aware of what an elf returning from human lands smells like,” the archdragon retorted, voice low and menacing. “And what you have with you is a _human_.”

“Oh y-yeah?” Callum cleared his throat as his attempt to sound brave came out as a squeak. “Could a human do this?” He drew a glowing blue rune in the air, three concave strokes within each other, and inhaled. “_Aspiro._”

Sol Regem sniffed the air as it blew around him. “Interesting,” he rumbled. “That is indeed competent Sky magic, and yet I cannot smell the petrichor and ozone of a primal stone.” He paused, thinking, tail tapping the rock below him idly. And after a brief moment, he bade Callum “Come forward, boy.” The tone of his command left no room for dissent.

At Callum’s panicked glance, Rayla shooed him forward, taking the backpack from him. _Don’t keep him waiting_, she urged with her eyes. Zym peeked out from the backpack and quietly whimpered, until Rayla shushed him and pushed him back inside.

On shaking legs, Callum stepped forward, slowly closing the distance between him and Sol Regem, the infamous solar archdragon that had razed a human city before the division. He didn’t remember all of that particular history lesson, but Callum DID remember that it had been a human mage – the first dark mage - who had blinded him thus… and who had also drawn his ire. All in all, not someone he was terribly keen on meeting in person.

He swallowed hard as he stood before the fallen king now, praying to whoever might be listening that Sol Regem would believe the lie that, due to having a primal arcanum, Callum couldn’t possibly be human.

The dragon lowered his massive head to Callum, and sniffed. The heat of his breath, the heat of _him_, instantly put to mind being burnt to a crisp by dragon fire. It was like standing beside a blast furnace. Callum could feel the sweat dripping down his face and sides and he tried to remember to breathe. In, two three, four. Hold. Out, two, three, four, five, six. Repeat.

One final snuff out, with an extra bit of heat to ensure the boy fully understood his place, and Sol Regem lifted his head to regard what stood before him.

“Interesting, indeed.” This close to the dragon, and it was as though the bass timbre of his voice shook Callum’s bones themselves. “You _smell_ thoroughly human. I even catch a faint whiff of dark magic.” He spat out the words like they were rotten meat. “And yet I cannot ignore that you have forged a connection to the Sky Primal, nor can I ignore that you have been caring for a dragon whelp. His scent is all over you, and I smell only happiness and trust, not fear.” Sol Regem then laughed, a cold, mocking chuckle, as he laid back down on the stones and drummed his claws against them. “_Your_ fear almost masked it, but no. How indeed could a human connect to Primal magic _and _earn the trust of a young dragon? What _are_ you? And do not waste my time with this ‘elf in human clothing’ nonsense.”

Callum glanced back at Rayla for assistance, but she seemed at a loss. This hadn’t exactly gone as planned, after all. Sol Regem wasn’t in her plans, and in the little time she’d had to formulate around that spanner in the works, she hadn’t accounted for the archdragon’s nose being so good he could smell out all their secrets with just a few whiffs. She returned an incredibly unhelpful and panicked shrug.

Zym, for his part, wriggled out of the backpack and toddled his way over to Callum and Sol Regem. He’d been indicated, so there was no sense in hiding in the backpack, right? Especially since Callum and Rayla seemed scared. He nudged his friend in the hip with a reassuring chirp.

“Ah, the little one reveals himself,” Sol Regem said with a chuckle, a bit warmer this time. “What ever was a tiny fellow like you doing in—” He stopped abruptly, leaned closer, and inhaled, sharply, drawing all of Zym’s fluff upwards in the draft. Zym darted behind Callum’s legs with a whine. Then, with an angry snort, the former king drew up to his full height and towered above them, blocking out the light of the rising sun.

“That is Avizandum’s child,” he accused, menace in his voice and the ember of dragon fire brewing in his throat. “There is no storm dragon of that age anywhere in the world, save for the egg that was destroyed. And yet, here is a recently-hatched storm dragon.” He whirled on Callum, his every word a promise of destruction. “You **will** explain.”

“We found him!” Callum blurted, too afraid to lie. “Rayla came with the other Moonshadow assassins to avenge the Dragon King and the egg, but we found the egg in the dungeons, and we’re bringing him home.”

Sol Regem’s expression narrowed, dubious and critical. “Why?”

“Why… are we bringing him back, or why was he in the dungeon?”

Backlit though he was, Sol Regem’s scowl could be heard and felt in his reply. “Answer both.”

“Uh, well… we think that our- the high mage, Viren, was keeping it for um, dark magic reasons.” Callum twisted the end of his scarf in his hands, thoughts racing as he tried to summarize their adventure without giving too much away. “And since that’s wrong, and the war is wrong, we uh. Want to do what we can to fix things.”

Sol Regem snorted derisively. “_Now_ you decide that dark magic, war, and death are wrong? What makes you think that the Dragon Queen will listen to some petty human apprentice mage, holding her son and reeking of dark magic? Even if you have, for some unfathomable reason, stumbled onto the secret of primal magic, what could you possibly do to persuade the Dragon Queen not to unleash her armies on humankind for their countless atrocities?”

Callum swallowed, and steeled himself, as Rayla quietly panicked behind him. It terrified him to the core, but in that moment Callum realized that if he was going to get past Sol Regem, he was going to have to do so as himself, without secrets. “Because I’m not some petty human apprentice mage.” He drew himself up, standing tall before the Great Solar King. “I’m Prince Callum of Katolis. Prince -- _King_ Ezran is my brother. I destroyed the primal stone I was learning magic from in order to hatch the egg of the Dragon Prince.” Zym chirped in affirmation, standing tall as well in a mimicry of Callum's posture.

For a split second, Sol Regem was stunned by the honest admission. Then, he laughed, the kind of laugh that comes from being completely caught off guard by something absurd. Despite himself, Sol Regem believed the boy, too. Although the mustiness of clothes that had been worn for weeks masked it somewhat, the boy did smell like he came from privilege. And he knew something of the inner machinations of the human kingdoms, knowledge that the average commoner wouldn't know. Granted, in Sol Regem’s cynical view, humans were selfish and deceitful, but there was no way anyone would be foolish enough to tell a lie that ludicrous, that outlandish, and expect to be believed. 

So that was it, then. A prince of the human kingdoms had hatched the dragon prince and decided to waltz right into Xadia, hand-in-hand with one who had been sent to murder his family, with the naïve hope that the Dragon Queen would give two figs about their bid for peace.

Pathetic. _Adorable. _

His laughter died down, and he looked down his nose at Callum. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t just eat you now and take young Ayzmondias straight to his mother, without your meddling or the disgusting taint of dark magic you bear.”

“Look, the dark magic was a one-time thing and I almost died, so I’m never doing that again.” Callum took a step backwards, thinking. “I… I just want there to be peace. My brother wants peace. And I want to show other human mages that they don’t have to use dark magic as a crutch. _I_ connected to a primal source, and I barely know any magic. I want to show them how, so no one ever even thinks about using dark magic again.”

“Not to mention, he only did it to save me and a dragon that human soldiers had captured anyway,”Rayla interjected. “I’ll kill him myself if he ever tries it again, but I don’t think he would. It was pretty bad.”

“Uh, yeah!” Callum replied, giving Rayla a dirty look at the suggestion that she would personally murder him. “Anyway, can’t work on diplomacy and eradicating dark magic if I’m dead so… Please don’t eat me.”

Sol Regem inhaled once more, considering their words and breathing in the three of them. They were so _earnest_, so eager, the scent of their sincerity rolling off of them like a cloying perfume. All three of them were only children, with the brash sort of hope only children who haven’t witnessed the world’s cruelty carry within them. _They_ certainly believed in their mission, fruitless and futile as it sounded to Sol Regem’s ancient ears. And the human thinking he could teach other humans Primal Magic was pitiful. It would never work, of course, for Sol Regem knew of the centuries where humans had tried and failed, their inferior natures cutting them off from the sources of magic. But somehow, some way, this particular human had figured it out.

Unless….

The sun king brushed _that_ disgusting notion aside. It was impossible, and if it _were_ true, he’d smell it.

Sol Regem then decided he was more interested in seeing what the world would be like if these children tried to accomplish their goals and failed, rather than their adventure ending in his belly. Someone else would crush their hopes, inevitably. In the meantime, watching them try would be more fun than anything else he’d seen of the increasingly tiresome war between humans and Xadia. And should they succeed, well. It might actually give Sol Regem something to _do._

“Very well,” he said, after a pause that was long enough to make the children squirm with discomfort. “I shall not eat you.” The human boy’s sigh of relief was audible, and carried a faint puff of wind with it. How very interesting. “And I shall not inform anyone else that a human trespasses in Xadia. Find some way to keep him more incognito, young Moonshadow. It would do to keep Prince Azymondias's return a secret as well.”

“Oh man, _thank you_, your, uh, grace,” exuded Callum. “I promise we’ll do our best.”

“Do not give me cause to regret this decision, boy.”

“I won’t.”

Rayla bowed to the archdragon. “We truly are grateful, honorable Sol Regem.”

“See that the prince remains safe,” he rumbled back, and turned away from them, laying back down on his rocky bed. Zym yipped his own thanks, and Rayla gathered the two princes up.

“Come along, you two. Time to find some shade and some sleep.”

The trio strode down the canyon, and around the bend out of sight.

Sol Regem waited until they were out of his range of hearing, and then let a piercing cry echo towards the south. He waited only a few moments before a figure emerged from the rocky precipice above him.

“You called, my lord?” asked the figure.

“Yes. Further along the canyon you will see three children – a Moonshadow girl, a human boy – though he will likely be disguised, and a baby dragon.”

“Uh, forgive me, but did you say 'human'?!”

“Do not question me. He is no ordinary human. Follow them, be my eyes, and send me regular reports on their movements.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Ah, and one more thing. The wyrmling is... important. Ensure nothing ill befalls him.”

The figure bowed. “I will ensure the his safety, and keep an eye on the others.”

The figure flapped its wings, and ascended to the sky.

Satisfied, Sol Regem gazed westward, the rays of the sun warming his old bones. What funny, irritating creatures. Inferior as they may be, humans were, after all this time, still capable of surprising him.


	2. Low Profiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Onward, into Xadia! But first, the kids catch their breath after nearly being eaten by a very large, very cranky Sun dragon, and form a plan.

Once they had rounded the bend and walked a far enough distance that Rayla was sure Sol Regem would not overhear them, she sagged against the wall of the canyon and exhaled all her tension and fear. Callum joined her, still stiff from the shock that he’d just told _Sol Regem_, mankind’s greatest enemy, everything about their secret mission into Xadia. Not only that, it had actually worked.

“That went well,” he finally said, voice strained from anxiety.

“How did that go well, Callum?!” shouted Rayla. “We just told Sol Regem, who hates humans, everything! What happened to following my lead?”

“No offense, Rayla, but your lead kind of fell apart.”

“Okay, but that didn’t mean tell him everything!”

“He didn’t eat us?”

“Oh yay, we’re alive and uneaten, victory for us!” Rayla applauded, her actions and tone dripping with sarcasm, before she scowled. “And what if he tells someone about us? About Zym? The Archdragons aren’t exactly best friends. Who knows what kind of spies and assassins we’ll have to look out for now?!”

Callum considered Rayla’s words. “Well, Zym still fits in the backpack, so we can keep him in there if we need to. As for us, they’ll be looking for a human and an elf, right?”

Rayla narrowed her eyes at him. “Where are you going with this?”

Smiling, Callum gathered up Rayla’s cloak and threw it over his shoulders. “They can’t find a human and an elf if there’s no human! You’ve heard of Human Rayla, now get ready for….” Callum paused for emphasis, before whirling around and throwing the hood over his head. “Elf Callum!”

Unbidden, Rayla’s palm found her face. “Oh no.”

“Dinnae mind me, Aem joos’ a normal elf lad!”

“Please stop.”

“Wannae talk aboot parkour an’ drinkin’ berry juice?”

“Callum, no.”

“Aye nae can help it, Aye joos’ live faer sae laeng, Aye get boored if aye dinnae stand aroond an’ look cool.”

“CALLUM.”

He paused. “What? Jealous of my super-good elf impression?”

“First of all, it’s not good.” Rayla was deadpan and clearly displeased.

Callum pouted. “Not even a little?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“But second of all, you’re missing a few things. Or rather, have a few things too many.” She held up her hands and wiggled her three fingers.

Callum mirrored the gesture, and gave his pinkies a wiggle. “Oh. Right.” Callum went to remove the cloak, but Rayla cut him off.

“I didn’t say it was a completely bad idea. Just don’t do that voice ever again. Hmm…”

Rayla stood back, and considered the human prince. His clothes weren’t right for an elf, but unless they ran into a fashion snob it was unlikely anyone would care. If they found him a pair of gloves, he could cram his weird fifth finger into them with his fourth. It would be awkward, but passable. And as long as the hood remained up, no one would notice the human in their midst. His skin was a bit off-color, but it was close enough to hers that it wasn’t going to be too noticeable. Provided he didn’t open his mouth, of course. Also…

“Shame I don’t have any spirit bark on me, we could give you some markings and then no elf would even look twice.”

Callum blinked. “Wait, the marks on your face aren’t… part of your skin?”

“What? No, dummy, they’re painted on and leave a stain that fades after several weeks.”

“But they changed color when you did your moonshadow powers thingy.”

“Yeah, spirit bark reacts to whatever primal thingy you have in you. So Sunfire elves have golden marks, Moonshadow elves have purple ones, and so on.” Callum opened his mouth as though to ask a question, but she cut him off before he could ask. “If I did ‘em on you they’d probably be blue.”

“Oh, neat. But I was going to ask if that’s why Lujanne didn’t have any markings.”

“Oh.” Rayla thought about it. “Probably? Spirit bark doesn’t grow in Katolis.”

“Ah.” Callum lowered the hood and watched Zym snap at a luminescent insect, playing among the rocks while they talked. “Too bad she isn’t here now, one of those illusions would really come in handy.”

Rayla drew a breath in. Why hadn’t she thought of that?

“She can’t help us,” she breathed, growing excited. “But I know someone who can!” She added, under her breath, “Provided he’s not mad at me.”

“Wait, what?” replied Callum, straightening up. “You know a moon mage who can make an illusion that’ll hide me and Zym?”

“Yeah! Well, he’s not a moon mage, but he can do moon magic.”

“Okay, great! And why would he be mad at you?”

The hunch in her shoulders betrayed Rayla’s nervousness. “He’s… my uncle.”

“Oh.” Callum blinked, then sagged. “The one who killed my dad.”

“No no, not Runaan. I meant my other uncle, his husband. He, uh, might be really angry if I return home with a human and no Runaan.”

“Hmm, yeah, that’s understandable.”

“Ehh, we were going to have to go through Selenvale anyway. It’s on the way to the Dragon Queen’s fortress.” Rayla shrugged. “At least I can sleep in my own bed, and if nothing else I know where to get spirit bark and gloves in town. Until then, low profiles.”

Rayla stretched, and began to walk down the canyon. Zym and Callum followed.

“How far is your home village?” Callum asked, catching up to her and matching her pace.

“Only about two or so days walk from here,” Rayla replied. “If we make it to the Silver Glade by nightfall, we’ll camp there. We’ll reach Selenvale by mid-afternoon tomorrow if we get far enough today.”

Zym flapped his wings clumsily, and clambered up on Callum’s shoulder, tweeting and chirping. Rayla laughed. “And yes, little guy, we’ll find you some real food.” Zym yipped happily in response.

The trio emerged from the canyon’s end by early afternoon, into a waving field of blue-green grass dotted by white flowers. The wind was fresh and sweet, rolling off the nearby sea. Callum closed his eyes as the wind swirled around him, reveling in the surrounding element of Sky.

“You seem happy,” said Rayla at his shoulder.

“It’s my first day in Xadia!” exclaimed Callum, spreading his arms wide as the wind tousled his hair and scarf. “I connected to the Sky Primal, I’m in Xadia, it’s _beautiful_ here and I just feel… happy. Like things are right.”

Rayla smiled. “It is beautiful here. Wait until you see the Silver Glade, or the Smoking Falls. This is just the first bit.”

“Wow,” breathed Callum. He inhaled the fragrant wind, and sighed outward, creating a puff of air that stirred the flowers nearby. Upon his shoulder, Zym spread his wings and leaned into the breeze, cooing contentedly at the bird-like forms flying overhead. “I could stay here forever.”

“Okay, great, but we ARE in an open field and totally exposed so…”

“Right, right. Low profiles.”

They trekked onward, towards the edge of a quiet forest with silver leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone so much for the kind reviews and kudos!! Your excitement for more has made ME excited for more. 
> 
> I will probably update once/twice a week - definitely on Sundays, maybe also on Wednesdays, depending on how quickly I can write subsequent chapters. As of right now my buffer is about a chapter and a half. I'm predicting it'll be around 20-ish chapters, so stay tuned!
> 
> Also, re: spirit bark. I don't know what it will be called in canon, but the creators did mention recently that the elves' markings were like henna! I decided that you don't get cool glowy markings that shine and change color unless they're reacting to magic.


	3. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla, Callum and Zym continue their journey through Xadia towards Rayla's hometown. On the way there, they find that dragons and elves aren't the only thing they have to worry about...

The forest glowed dimly in the afternoon sun, the silver leaves reflecting the light to paint the woods in gold.

“Wow,” breathed Callum, taking it in. “Is everything in Xadia like this?”

“Nah,” Rayla replied, idly plucking a leaf from a bush. “There’s lava pits, huge deserts and this really spooky ruin that everyone says is haunted by dark magic ghosts. And that’s just stuff we might pass on our way to the Dragon Queen.” She popped the leaf in her mouth and began to chew.

Callum decided to skip over the casual mention of _ghosts _and follow up on the more pressing weird thing. “Um, Rayla, why are you eating a leaf?”

“I’m not eating it, I’m chewing it. It makes your mouth tingle. Here,” she pulled another leaf off and handed it to Callum, who sniffed it cautiously before biting into it very gingerly.

After a few thoughtful chews, he said, “So… you’re just eating mint off the ground and not telling me to mess with me.”

“Yep.” She smiled slyly and ate another. “But you’d have believed me if I told you it was magic mint, wouldn’t you?”

Callum grumbled. “It’s not like I got lessons on the plants and animals of Xadia. No one trained me to go on any missions like you were.”

A pause hung on the air as the two of them considered the implications of why a human might need to venture into Xadia and be familiar with the flora and fauna of the land. Rayla rubbed her arm and gave Callum a sheepish smile. “That’s fair, I guess.”

The trio walked on in silence, with Rayla leading the way at a brisk pace – not so brisk, however, to rush Callum and Zym, who were seeing Xadia for the first time. She could see Callum’s eyes darting back and forth, trying to take everything in and memorize it all. No doubt sketches of flower fields and silver forests would show up in his journal later.

As the afternoon wore on, though, she noticed his demeanor beginning to fall. Rayla turned to find Callum staring at a pair of birds bobbing around on a branch nearby, a far-away wistful expression on his face. Ah, it was finally catching up to him. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Miss your brother?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Callum replied. “He was so excited for Xadia, he kept talking about all the new kinds of animals he’d get to meet. But instead he has to go home and be king of Katolis. It sucks.”

Rayla sighed, sensing the oncoming mope. She strode over to a nearby flat rock, and seated herself, patting the stone next to her in a gesture to join her. Callum obliged, and Zym joined them as well, excitedly prowling around the rock for a sunny spot or bugs to chase.

“Look, Callum,” she began, gazing into the distance as she searched for the words. “Ez said so himself, he’ll be able to help us better from the throne. Sometimes, you have to do what you think is right, even if it sucks.” She idly dragged a thumb across her wrist where the binding had threatened to squeeze off her hand merely a week ago, before turning to look him in the eye. “But, for what it’s worth, I miss him too.”

Callum was silent for a moment, taking her words in. “Yeah… you’re right. I hope he’s okay.” He smiled softly, sadly, at her, and leaned back onto his hands. “He really would love it here.”

“Well, perhaps when all this is done, you can show him Xadia yourself.” A warm feeling was rising in Rayla’s chest. Sitting calmly on this rock with the human boy she’d spent the last few weeks travelling with, this moment of peace, Rayla felt content and at ease. Even if he was missing his brother, Rayla was glad Callum was still with her. And Zym, too, but Callum’s presence made her happy in a way she couldn’t quite pinpoint.

There was a tremor beneath them.

The two teenagers glanced at each other with worry. “You felt that, right?” Callum asked, pointing at the ground.

“Yeah, that was—” Rayla was cut off as another, sharper tremor shook the ground and staggered them off balance. Zym squeaked with distress and puffed himself up defensively. With a flash, Rayla drew her blades and sank into a defensive stance, alert and scanning the tree line.

“What is it?” asked Callum, scrambling to his feet and holding a hand up, ready to inscribe a rune in the air. “Earthquake?”

“Earthquakes don’t feel like that. It was too close and too small of an area. We’re probably dealing with tunnel snakes or earth worms.” Rayla’s eyes darted right to left, prepared for attack. “Hopefully it’s not an angry Earth mage.”

For his part, Callum dropped his arm and placed his hands on his hips. “Really? Earthworms? I know we’re in a land filled top to bottom with magic but are _worms_ really that big of a deal?”

“No, dummy, not earthworms. _EARTH_ worms!”

As though bidden right on cue, a monstrously large worm burst from the ground in front of them. Worm, perhaps, was a bit generous of a description, since typical worms don’t have fanged maws or glistening rows of bioluminescent spots, and usually aren’t 20 feet long. It was enormous, and it was terrifying. It’s jaw split wide, revealing even more teeth.

“Oh, _come on_!” yelled Callum. “We _just_ fought something like this!”

“Yeah, except this one’s real! Watch out!” Rayla barreled into him, shoving him out of the way just as the Earth Worm lunged at the spot where they’d just stood. They ran to the other side of the clearing, giving themselves a breather as the worm extracted its teeth from the rock it had embedded itself in.

“Okay, same plan as last time. Kind of. We don’t have bark and flash, but we DO have both parts of slish slash,” said Callum, already working out a plan to take on the monster. “So I’m thinking Whoosh, I distract it with Aspiro, then you take it on and keep it busy with Slish Slash, and then I stun it or scare it off with Zap, Fulminis.”

“Great, whatever, it’s coming this way!”

Rayla and Callum leapt in different directions as the worm charged them once again.

The wind rune glowed in the air and Callum inhaled. “_Aspiro!”_ he cried, and blew as hard as he could.

The worm turned to the young mage with a growl, and charged.

Callum ran.

“Any time you feel like jumping in with Slish Slash, Rayla, that’d be great!” he hollered, running for his life from a scary screaming giant glowing worm.

The afternoon sunlight glinted off the blades, and Rayla dove between the worm and Callum. “Hey ugly!” she taunted. “Back off.”

She lunged, a flurry of flips and cuts. Rayla was indeed a skilled fighter, and Callum was again left in awe of her courage and confidence. He shook himself, now was not the time. Acting quickly, he drew the rune in the air with his finger, feeling the crackle of electricity pulsate through his entire being as he drew the magic down through the sky.

Lightning sparked in his hand. _“Fulminis_.”

A white-blue arc of electricity lashed towards the worm, striking it in the center of it’s reared-upwards body. It convulsed a few times as the lightning passed through its body and into the ground. But the spell seemed to do little else as the worm shook itself, and once again turned it’s attention to Callum. This time, however, it was angry.

It was also distracted. Rayla landed a critical cut, and the worm decided that the two bipeds weren’t worth the trouble of eating. It slithered away before more damage could be done, back into the ground.

The air hung silent and tense before Callum dropped to the ground on his butt.

“Why didn’t lightning work?” he asked in disbelief. “I hit it right in the middle!”

Wiping her blades on the grass to clean the worm goo from them, Rayla answered evenly. “It’s because it’s of the Earth primal. Lightning rarely affects the ground, so lightning magic probably doesn’t do much to Earth creatures.”

“So I didn’t really do anything,” Callum said with a sulky pout.

“Well, you distracted it long enough for me to get a decent hit in,” offered Rayla, small pittance of comfort though it was for Callum’s bruised ego.

“Uuuugh,” came the reply as he dropped backwards into the dirt. “I really need to learn more than two spells.”

“Well, lucky you then. The library in Selenvale isn’t as big as the one at the Moon Nexus, but they’ve got a few scrolls that might help.”

Rayla held out a hand to the prone prince. “So c’mon. The silver glade’s just a little further beyond here, we’ll camp there for the night and then head into town tomorrow.”

Callum reached up and took her hand, allowing her to pull him up. He dusted himself off, and gave her a faint smile. “You sure keep us on a tight schedule.”

“Yeah, well, can you blame me for wanting to sleep in my own bed?”

“Fair.”

They walked on through the opalescent forest, deeper into Xadia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who rewatched Season 2 paying specific attention to the phases of the moon in background shots just so she could pick apart the exact timeline of the show?
> 
> THIS GAL. 
> 
> (The moon is almost new when they're crossing the lava, and it was full at the beginning of the show, so the trek across Katolis was roughly two weeks).


	4. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio arrives, at long last, in Rayla's hometown. Only thing is, Rayla has to convince someone important to her to go along with their plans...

The trio was crouched in the bushes at the edge of the village of Selenvale. It wasn’t a large town by any stretch of the imagination, and as far as Xadian cities went it was quite the podunk little spot. But for Callum, it was stunning.

Even from their vantage point in the woods, he could see gleaming white buttresses and delicate archways, all designed to mimic natural forms and evoke grace. The Moon Nexus had been beautiful, if a bit run-down by the ages, but seeing an Elven town inhabited and alive was something else. So, too, were the Elves themselves.

Up to this point, Callum had only ever seen Moonshadow Elves – Rayla, her uncle, the other assassins, Lujanne. While Selenvale had a considerable population of the white-haired elves, it was also a bit more multicultural. Dark-skinned Sunfire Elves in golds and reds, blue and white elves with dark hair and horns that looked more like antennae that Rayla informed him were Skywing Elves, and even an elf with warm tanned skin and green hair Rayla called an Earthblood Elf. He knew there were many different kinds of elf, but seeing them all up close for the first time was exciting… and intimidating.

They had slunk through the undergrowth until they reached a small workshop at the edge of the village. Rayla grabbed the cloak and shoved it over Callum, which he rightly interpreted as his cue to hide and pretend to not be a human. For good measure, he stuffed his hands into his armpits.

Rayla scrunched up her nose, an expression of scrutiny, and nodded once. It’d have to do. She turned her attention to the yard behind the workshop.

It was all familiar to her – the careful piles of materials, each labeled in an easy cursive, the work bench in the sunniest spot of the courtyard, the fountain in the middle with it’s finely crafted glass-and-wire flowers floating on the surface. And, in the forge close to the main building, was a Sunfire Elf known around town as the Tinker.

“That’s him?” Callum mumbled near her ear. He had been expecting a Moonshadow Elf, to be honest, but it made sense that Rayla’s uncle – a craftsman – was a Sunfire Elf, since basically the only two things Callum knew about Sunfire Elves was that they made cool swords and liked to use them. The elf was tall, and pretty muscular by Callum’s standards. (Not Soren levels of ripped, but Callum knew that Soren’s buffness was partially due to a deliberate exercise and weight-lifting regimen to get, as Soren put it, “super gronked.”) Interestingly, whereas the handful of other Sunfire Elves Callum had seen this day were mostly gold and red with dark hair, this elf had blond hair and wore gold and white. Shimmering golden markings swirled across the dark skin of his face and shoulders. Callum glanced over at Rayla.

For her part, Rayla was preparing herself mentally. What, exactly, did one say to one’s uncle after having been gone for nearly a month, half of which involved a trek across Katolis that would definitely get her in trouble with other elves and was in direct defiance of her father figure and squad captain? ‘Hey, uncle, so Runaan is probably dead, but look, I’ve got a dragon!’ probably wasn’t going to cut it. Neither was ‘So, turns out humans aren’t so bad, I found this one in the human castle, can I keep him?’

Still, she had to try. “Okay. You and Zym stay here while I go talk to him.”

Stiffly, Rayla stood, and made her way through the undergrowth towards the yard. Callum and Zym ducked lower, peering through the foliage and staying out of sight.

His name was Belenus, but everyone called him the Tinker. It made sense, that’s what he did. He was a weaponsmith by trade, a good match for a high-ranking assassin, but his passion (which sometimes overtook his work) was magical artifacts.

Today, he was making a lantern. He pulled the silver metal from the quenching trough and inspected it, checking the runes with a careful eye. He touched the metal gently, and with the command “_Lumino_” the metal began to glow a faint blue, lighting up the forge. _“Obscuro_,” and the metal insert dimmed to normal.

He smiled softly, and turned to set the piece down, and when he looked up, his missing niece was standing in the yard.

“Rayla!” he breathed, the name catching in his throat. He dropped the tongs and skirted around a pile of raw metal, running to her to sweep her up in a fierce hug.

Slowly, Rayla lifted her arms to return the hug. “I’m back,” she said weakly.

“I thought I would never see you again.” He held her tightly, lingering with the hug before releasing her. “When Runaan’s lily sank, I thought for certain you were imprisoned, or being tortured, or worse.”

Confused, Rayla’s brows met as she frowned. “Lily? You mean those flowers you made to track us?”

Belenus wiped his eye. “Yes. They were designed to wither and blacken upon death, and when they did not, I hoped I would see you soon. Then Runaan’s lily sank to the bottom of the fountain, where it remains.” He gestured to the fountain.

Rayla swallowed and approached the fountain with trepidation. Her flower, white and tinged with the same lavender as her eyes, floated serenely on the surface. Runaan’s, tipped in teal, sat heavily at the bottom of the pool, motionless. Her uncle joined her, gazing sadly into the fountain, as he had done for many days. She looked up into his sad golden eyes, her expression worried and question unspoken.

“The blossom is bruised but alive. And thus, so is Runaan. It remains there, whole and white, but… what exactly a sunken flower means, I cannot say. In human territory, riddled with dark magic, who knows what unspeakable horrors he has faced?”

She screwed her eyes shut. Callum had told Rayla about Soren and Claudia’s father, Viren, the high mage and likely captor of Zym’s egg. How Viren had always shown disdain for Callum, how he had stolen Callum’s voice when he went to tell King Harrow about the egg. She thought about Claudia, who seemed goofy and good-natured, but how beneath the sweetness Claudia referred to Zym as “it” and “a weapon.”

She had left Runaan to all that. Her failure to kill the human guardsman, her denial of the mission, had doomed the only family she had left.

Her face must have betrayed her, because her Uncle crouched down to look her straight in the eye, a strong-but-gentle hand on her shoulder. His expression was soft but stern, and worried. “Rayla, please. What happened?”

Rayla’s breath hitched in her throat, but she composed herself, and told him. About the soldier she didn’t kill, about the guardsmen searching for them, about the compromised mission. About Runaan ordering her to stay behind and insistence she wasn’t ready, about her foolish attempt to prove him wrong. About being discovered by one of the human princes, and the other human prince – her target – leading them to where the egg of the dragon prince had been kept.

“The egg is alive?!” interjected Belenus.

“I couldn’t kill Prince Ezren after seeing it. If I killed Ezren and returned to Xadia with the egg, then it would be an act of hostility against the humans and the cycle of injustice would keep going. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Rayla, you know that as an assassin, it isn’t your place to choose right and wrong.”

She turned away. “That’s what Runaan said when Prince Ezren showed him the egg.”

Belenus’s thoughts scrambled to keep up. “You… took the human princes… to Runaan, to show him the egg and convince him to abandon the mission.”

“It was the right thing to do!”

He slowly dragged his hands down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose as they trailed down to rest on his chin, a gesture of disbelief and exasperation. “What were you thinking?!”

“I was thinking that maybe, if the human Princes themselves delivered the egg to the Dragon Queen, it would set things right and restore balance. Maybe even end the war.”

“Prince Ezren will now grow up to become King Ezren, Rayla! One of Xadia’s greatest enemies!”

Rayla met his eyes with a cold expression. “That’s exactly what one of their dark mages said about Zym.”

Belenus’s patience was wearing very thin. “Who is Zym?” he said, with a tired tone.

“Prince Azymondias. The dragon prince.”

Ah. Well, she had him there. If it was wrong to call an egg an enemy, then it was probably wrong to call a child an enemy, even if he was of a race Belenus believed were power-hungry monsters with no respect for life or natural balance. He composed himself.

“Okay, so… you took the egg to Runaan. Then what?”

“Runaan scolded me and dashed off to fulfill his mission. I… took the egg, and we headed East.”

“’We’….?” He inhaled sharply as he put two and two together, then exhaled with great weariness. “Rayla, please tell me there aren't humans hiding in my bushes.”

She twiddled her thumbs and shifted. “_Humans_, no. _A_ human, yes. Also a dragon”

Of course they had hatched the egg. Of course she'd dragged him into this mess. Somehow. Belenus’s face was fully in his hands now, and his middle fingers rubbed slow circles on his temples. Rayla had always been a handful, but this took things to an entirely new level.

“Sol Regem said it was okay?” Rayla supplied sheepishly.

Belenus gave up. “Alright, fine, get your human inside and don’t let anyone see. I expect you to tell me _everything_ that has happened.”

“So I’m not in trouble?”

“Oh, no, you absolutely are.”

Rayla sulkily stomped over to the bushes at the perimeter of the yard, hauled a teenaged boy out of them, and stomped back towards the house. He was wearing Rayla’s cloak – probably to conceal his true nature – and as he passed he waved. “Thanks Rayla’s Uncle,” he mumbled sheepishly. From his rucksack emerged the head of a blue baby dragon, who yipped happily and licked the boy’s cheek.

Resignedly, Belenus followed. Inside was where the berry wine was, and right now he needed a particularly large drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name Belenus comes from Celtic mythology, it's the name of a sun god.
> 
> But really I chose it because Tinker Bel.
> 
> *tapdances away*
> 
> Come back this weekend for chapter 5!


	5. Possibilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After hearing from Rayla and Callum, the Tinker debates whether or not he'll help them.
> 
> Alternate Title: Tinker Is Very Tired

Telling the tale took a lot longer than any of them expected.

Rayla and Callum talked over each other and would frequently interject, bantering and repeating parts to tell it “right.” Belenus had several questions, which took the two teenagers on more tangents, and in the mix as well was Zym who was curiously exploring the inside of the house. By the time they were done, it was almost sunset.

“And then Sol Regem sent us on our way yesterday morning, and we’ve been heading towards Selenvale ever since,” finished Rayla.

“Well we did fight that earth worm,” interjected Callum.

“Um, _I_ fought the worm, you zapped it and ran away like a baby.”

“My zap stunned it long enough for you to slash it, so you’re welcome.” Callum folded his arms across his chest defiantly.

Belenus was very, very weary. His husband was missing and facing some unknown fate, his niece had made some _…_ _choices,_ and was up to her horns in a diplomatic mess, the actual dragon prince himself was making a wreck of the kitchen in pursuit of some dried fish, and there was a human prince sitting on his sofa bickering with his niece like they were an old married couple. Resignedly, he added “Give Rayla The Talk” and “Give Prince Callum The Threatening Uncle Talk” to his growing list of headaches.

He hated being the threatening uncle. Runaan was so much better at it.

Belenus ran a hand through his fair hair and exhaled. “The two of you are either very brave or very, very stupid.”

“Thank you!” said Rayla, ignoring the second half of the statement.

“Hey…” said Callum, ignoring the first half.

“Firstly,” Belenus continued, pressing past their reactions, “I do not agree at all with your motivations or choices. You have been spectacularly lucky so far, especially when it comes to Sol Regem, but you’ve also been very reckless.”

“Look, it’s not like we haven’t been careful,” Rayla protested.

“Rayla, how is bringing a human into Xadia careful?”

“It has to be him, Bel! If it’s just me, or Runaan, or you, or anyone else, then all that’s happened is we’ve put things back exactly how they were. But if Callum takes Zym home, it’s huge. It could stop the war.”

Belenus sighed. “Yes, so you’ve explained, as well as Callum’s noble mission to teach humans primal magic so that dark magic is a thing of the past. Your belief in this plan is charming, but things are _so_ much more complicated than that.”

“The queen was mad about the king’s death and destruction of her son’s egg. Her son is fine, and King Harrow is dead. It’s win-win for her. Sorry, Callum.” She directed this last statement at the human prince, who had rankled at the mention of Harrow’s death.

“No, I understand the logic, even if it sucks.” He replied. Harrow had faced his death with dignity and reading his letter had helped him understand, somewhat. It wasn’t as though he was over it, but he doubted that his step-father – his _father_ – wanted him to wallow when there was important work to do.

Rayla folded her arms and sat back. “Anyway, sounds pretty not complicated to me.”

“Oh?” replied Belenus. “And how do you plan to get into the Queen’s court to execute your plan?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” said Callum. “I’m the brother of the King of Katolis, sent here on a diplomatic mission of peace by King Ezren himself. As a sign of our good will, we’ve returned Prince Azymondias to rightful place, along with our sincerest apologies for his abduction in the first place.”

“And how does Rayla fit in to this?”

“She’s my diplomatic escort. Both to ensure I don’t do anything stupid, and to ensure the dragon prince’s safety.”

“How do you plan to get to Castra Draconis undetected? You can’t just toss a cloak over Prince Callum and hope no one notices.”

“Well,” Rayla cut in, “I was _kinda_ hoping I could get your help with that.”

Belenus blinked, and sat up straight, sensing where this conversation was headed. “You are putting a lot of faith in my knowledge of moon magic, Rayla. Also, I still think this plan is crazy and seriously question your priorities.”

“Why?” she demanded. “You’ve been opposed to Runaan training me since I was a kid. You begged Runaan not to take me with him to the human lands. You said yourself you didn’t think my path was assassination, I overheard you fighting a lot!” Belenus looked away, and she continued. “While I was on the other side of the border, I realized what I care about, what I want to do, what I think is right. I want to make the world better than it is.”

“Dividing the land in two didn’t just hurt the humans, it hurt us too!” She was standing now, gesturing with sincere passion. “The Moon Nexus is forever cut off from Moonshadow Elves. It’s part of our history and culture, part of who we _are_, and it’s completely inaccessible to us! What else are we missing? We’ve been divided for centuries, and it hasn’t made things any better.” She gestured to Callum, who was quietly fending off Zym as he crawled onto his lap, triumphantly holding a dried fish in his mouth. “We have a chance to make things better. Even if it is completely crazy, we have to try! Sitting around doing nothing and trying to keep things the way they are just makes everything worse.”

Tense silence hung over the room. Belenus wasn’t sure what to say to her impassioned speech, but she was expecting his response.

The silence was pierced by a rumble from Callum’s stomach. “Oh, uh,” he said with a sheepish wince. “Sorry. I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning.”

“Alright,” Belenus said, standing. “It is evening, and a meal would do us all some good.” He sighed. “I’m heading to market for what I’ll need and to clear my head. I haven’t decided yet about helping you, so _please_ don’t run off into the night.”

“I—” Rayla was ready to argue, but she deflated. She DID miss her family, and sleeping in a real bed wouldn’t be unwelcome. “Fine,” she replied sullenly.

“Very well,” her uncle stated. “Fix up the spare room so that Prince Callum has a place to sleep as well. I hope that you will also see to cleaning the kitchen. And Rayla?”

“Yeah?”

“Please take a bath. You smell terrible.”

He left before she could protest further.

\--- 

The sun had set, but the streets of Selenvale were still populated. Elves didn’t require much sleep, and the night was still very young. The market would be open for longer yet, with multicolored magic lights hanging over the food stalls and merchandise vendors. Everything was on a barter system, of course, money was a human concept and distasteful to the elves. And having been the one responsible for revamping the market’s lights, Belenus could walk up to any stall and receive what he requested.

He gathered up some root vegetables and fruits from the greengrocer, and some soft cheese from the creamery. These transactions were made mundanely, with only the routine exchange of pleasantries. His mind was elsewhere as he greeted neighbors and grateful clients.

There was a lot on the line. If the people of Selenvale discovered he was harboring a human, even one dragged into Xadia by his niece, he’d never be able to show his face. He groaned internally. If nothing else, he’d have to help Rayla with her idiot plan just to save his own reputation.

It wasn’t that he was opposed to her vision of a harmony and a unified land, he just didn’t think there was much of a chance of the humans promising to play nice and give up the magic they had been using for over a millennium. Still, he weighed her optimism against doing nothing (or worse, turning them in to the proper authorities), and kicked himself mentally. Helping them was his best bet for seeing Runaan again.

He made a detour towards the library.

“Ah, Tinker!” The librarian was an older woman, an Earthblood Elf with olive-colored hair and chestnut skin. Her horns were short and forked, like small branches, and she was at her usual post at the lending desk, embroidering a silver tunic for her daughter. “Good to see you again.”

“Hello, Vena,” he replied, courteously nodding to her. “I found the tome on Moon magic I borrowed last month fascinating, but I was hoping there was more I could glean from it.”

Vena nodded. “Certainly. I do think it’s sweet of you to learn about Runaan’s primal source. How is he, by the by?”

“Still away on his mission.”

“Ahh.” Vena placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “I wish he and Rayla a safe return. I know you’re worried.”

“Thank you,” Belenus replied. He bowed to the librarian, and turned towards the section on the primal source of the Moon.

The bell over the door tinkled, and he heard Vena greet the newcomer. “Oh! Magister Zeru, what a surprise! Heading back to Alendis?”

This Magister Zeru was, Belenus discovered with a quick glance over his shoulder, a Skywing Elf with light blue skin and navy hair, cut short and slicked back as the Skywing men often did. He was nicely dressed and walked with an air of confidence that shone out from merry green eyes. Based on his title and destination, the tinker guessed that this Zeru was someone important at the Mage Academy in Alendis. Interesting. He returned to browsing, but kept one ear turned towards their conversation.

“I am,” Zeru replied, leaning on the counter with a casualness that underlined his confidence. “The border’s nice but I can’t stray from the Academy for too long, Sol Regem’s orders or not.”

Vena laughed. “How is Old Sunshine these days?” The epithet wasn’t commonly used, especially not within earshot of the dragon, but it was a term of endearment. Sol Regem was fearsome, but generally elves thought of their draconic rulers with fondness, and the former kings and queens usually picked up nicknames once they had been deposed.

Zeru chuckled. “He’s the same as he always is, quite cranky.” He drummed his fingers on the counter, and leaned in. “Say, Vena, I heard something rather unusual while I was near the border.”

The librarian leaned in, eager for gossip. “Do go on,” she said with glee.

“I heard that there was a human who had learned magic.”

“Zeru!” she chided. “You know as well as I do that what the humans call magic is definitely _not_.”

He shook his head. “No, no, I didn’t mean dark magic. The rumor is that this human connected to an arcanum and learned _primal_ magic. Without a primal stone.”

“Oh!” Vena tapped her lower lip, thinking. “Well, that IS rather unusual. Do you think it’s true?”

“That’s actually why I came to visit you. Do you recall anything in the history books about humans connecting to a primal source?”

“Off the top of my head, no” she replied. She turned to a small glass orb on her left and placed a hand upon it, muttering “_Testatur Historia.” _Her eyes glowed white and flickered as she scanned the archives. After a moment, she blinked and removed her hand, and her eyes returned to their usual brown. “There doesn’t seem to be any record of a human connecting to a primal source in the archive, either.”

“Hmm, that’s what I thought,” replied Zeru, but Vena cut him off.

“There _are_, however, several mentions of someone who is _half_ human developing an arcanum later in life.”

Zeru blinked, the laughed. “Well, that would be quite the shock to everyone, a living, breathing half-elf in these times.”

Vena laughed with him. “Could you imagine, an elf consorting with one of _those_ monsters? Prepostrous.”

“Indeed. Well, it has been a pleasure, as always. But I must be off.” Zeru bowed, and once he was outside, brought out his wings and flew away.

Belenus approached the counter, the book he was searching for, plus another more advanced tome, in hand.

“Did you hear any of that?” Vena asked, still chuckling.

“That nonsense about a human learning magic?” replied Belenus, hoping his face wasn’t betraying him. It was not in the Sunfire nature to lie, but Runaan had taught him well.

“Nonsense is right,” Vena stated as she wrote down the title of the book in the ledger and who was borrowing it. She deftly sprinkled a silver powder on the book and a rune depicting the full moon appeared on the cover, indicating that the book would return to her by magic in two weeks’ time. “I’m not sure which is more outlandish, a human learning proper magic or a _half-elf_ existing.”

“Well, he did say it was just a rumor. You know how those can get out of hand. It was likely just one of their dark mages showing off with a primal stone.”

“Oh, you’re no fun when Runaan is gone,” Vena said sulkily as she handed him the second book. “You get all serious and mopey.”

“I have a lot on my mind, Vena. I do apologize. Thank you for the books, and I’ll have that lantern finished for you when I return these books.”

“Very well, Tinker, take care. And lighten up!” She paused, and then laughed at her own joke. “Ha! Because you glow sometimes? Get it?”

It was not the first time she’d made this joke at his expense. Good-naturedly, he rolled his eyes. “Good night, Vena.”

What Magister Zeru said disturbed him. No human in recorded history had learned Primal magic. It meant one of two things, then. Either Prince Callum had stumbled into something that no human before him had through sheer willpower, or there were some horned skeletons in the Katolian royal family’s closet.

But Zeru had also given Belenus some ideas and clarity about what to do with the human prince hiding in his house.

He just hoped it would work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like world building a lot.


	6. Intentions and Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that he's safely hidden inside Rayla's home, Callum acclimates to elven culture.

Rayla returned to the kitchen looking almost exactly like a bedraggled cat caught in a rainstorm, her hair dripping and attired in a simple tunic. “I _hate_ baths.”

“Do elves not have showers?” Callum asked, thinking of the elaborate plumbing in the castle. To his understanding, it was purely mechanical, how the hot water got up from the boiler room to the bathrooms. Surely the elves had figured it out too.

“I mean, yeah, I took a shower,” Rayla explained. Showers were more efficient than baths, and she didn’t have to have her whole body submerged. “It’s still water, though.”

“Alright, fair,” Callum had been doing what he could to pick up after Zym, who had curled up on the sofa for a nap after eating the dried fish he’d found earlier. It was easy enough to discover where food was stored and put things away tidily, but now came the job of cleaning up spills and he wasn’t sure how to go about it. Sure, King Harrow had insisted that their time at the Banther Lodge was a time of self-sufficiency, that just because they were royalty didn’t mean they should always expect people to do everything for them. He had learned how to clean up spills and do some rudimentary cooking.

But this wasn’t the Banther Lodge, this was Rayla’s house. How did elves clean?

“What are you doing?” asked Rayla, squeezing the water from her hair with a towel.

“Well, I was picking up after Zym, but I don’t know if there's some kind of special... elf cleaning magic, or something.”

Rayla gave him a flat look. “You… wipe spills up with a rag, then rinse the rag in the sink and wipe the counter again so it’s clean?”

Oh. So it was just like cleaning a human counter. He shrugged and went to wet the rag he’d found by the sink.

“Anyway,” Rayla continued. “You should probably go clean yourself up, first. I’m not the only one who smells like they’ve been sleeping in the woods for two weeks.”

Callum raised an arm and sniffed. Oof, Rayla wasn’t kidding. “Is there… anything about the bathroom I should know?”

She guided him to the bathroom and pointed out the various knobs and handles. It operated more or less like the bathrooms at the castle, but with various runes to control temperature, water pressure, and so forth. Rayla pulled a towel down from a cabinet, and set it on the counter for him. “There’s also the clothes washer,” she said, pointing at a box in the corner. “Uncle Bel invented it. You basically just stick your clothes in and then tap this part here and say ‘_lavo_’ and it’ll make your clothes clean.” A soft chime pinged, and Rayla opened the cabinet to retrieve her green and black jumpsuit. It smelled faintly of lavender and mint.

With her clothes retrieved, the bathroom explained and Rayla mentioning that she would be downstairs making up the spare room so he could sleep there, Callum shut the door and took it in.

If, somehow, they managed to convince Rayla’s uncle that he wasn’t evil, Callum was _definitely_ going to pick his brain. The guy was clearly a talented mage and inventor, and Callum was itching to know more.

He turned the water on and began to disrobe. As he pulled off his jacket, scarf and gloves, he noticed a strange fleck of something on his shoulder – a white, spiny spike half-embedded in his skin.

Callum frowned, and pulled on it. It stuck for a bit, but eventually came free, with a small amount of pain. He shrugged, and figured it was a splinter of some kind, that had fallen inside of his jacket during their adventures. He examined the unfamiliar object and put it in the pocket of his jacket to take a closer look at later. 

Several minutes later, he returned downstairs feeling refreshed. Clean self, clean clothes, clean socks - when this was over, he'd have to talk about getting one of those wash boxes for the castle.

Rayla showed him to the room he’d be staying in, and while it was simple compared to the Moon Nexus’s rooms, it was cozy and inviting. And if the Moon Nexus was indicative of elven beds in any manner, he was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. He hadn’t slept well the night before, despite the fact that they’d traveled the entire night two nights ago.

Callum was helping Rayla finish wiping muddy dragon footprints off the cabinets when Belenus returned home with a bag of groceries and a few books.

“Hey, Bel” Rayla said nervously. “We cleaned up!”

Belenus glanced around at their handiwork, and at them. They were clean, and Rayla had clearly shown Callum how to operate their little clothes washing device. Good. He set the bag on the counter and glanced at Rayla. “Moonroot surprise?”

Her eyes widened at the name of her favorite dish. “You’re making moonroot surprise?”

“It _has_ been nearly a month since I’ve seen you, Rayla. And considering what tonight is, I thought you might like the extra comfort.”

“Wait, what’s tonight?” asked Callum, feeling a bit awkward.

Rayla groaned. “New moon. I forgot and thought I felt tired and grouchy because I was on edge about bringing you here, but no, turns out it’s the moon. Again.”

“Moonshadow Elves derive their power from the moon,” Belenus supplied helpfully. “Therefore a night where the moon is hidden tends to leave them feeling depleted.”

“I could still kick your butt, new moon or no,” Rayla insisted as she stifled a yawn.

“I’m sure,” replied her uncle, shooing the teens out of the kitchen. “Get out of my way so I can make dinner.”

While the Sunfire Elf prepared dinner, Rayla sprawled on the floor to play with Zym, and Callum drew in his sketchbook. The spires of Selenvale, notes about flora and fauna, and the scenery of Xadia filled the pages. One sketch of the tinker, concentrating on chopping vegetables, found its way into his drawings as well.

Eventually, three plates of baked vegetables topped with soft cheese were placed on the table. The three of them ate in semi-awkward silence, though on Rayla’s part it was due to increasing drowsiness. As the night stretched on, it was more and more apparent that the moon was affecting her. Her uncle sent her upstairs to bed.

“You gonna help us or not?” she mumbled sleepily as she headed upstairs to her bedroom.

“We’ll talk in the morning,” said Belenus, shooing her away.

Once she was upstairs, Belenus turned to Callum, who was happily chewing. He’d never seen blue carrots and potatoes before, but they were delicious.

“So, Prince Callum,” said Belenus slowly. “What exactly are your intentions with my niece?”

Callum almost choked on his food at the question. “My… my intentions?” he asked, voice squeaking slightly.

The elf said nothing, but chewed slowly and fixed Callum with a penetrating stare. The prince squirmed uncomfortably.

“I, uh. What are you talking about?” Callum tried again, floundering from being put on the spot.

“I have eyes, Prince Callum. I’ve seen the looks you and Rayla give each other when you think the other isn’t looking.”

Callum laughed, trying to suppress panic. “Yeah, um, me and Rayla aren’t like… that. She’s just a friend.” He laughed again, awkwardly, trying to smooth things over. “Everyone has assassin friends.”

“True,” said Belenus, thoughtfully spearing a carrot. He lifted it to his mouth and bit in, chewing slowly and deliberately. Callum squirmed in discomfort at the silence, much to Belenus's quiet satisfaction. “You know, I _married_ my assassin friend.”

The look of sheer terror on Callum’s face was worth the comment to Belenus. The prince spluttered, and waved his arms. “No way, nothing like that’s gonna happen.”

“My niece isn’t good enough for you?”

“What? No, no, Rayla’s great. She’s brave and confident and kind and a really good friend, but.” He slumped in his chair slightly. “I’m human, she’s an elf. Even if there was something there – which there isn’t! -, it’d never happen.”

_He’s a Moonshadow Elf_, Belenus remembered himself saying many years ago. _And I’m a Sunfire Elf. It’d never happen, we’re too different. _He took a sip of his water. Well, despite what he thought, it seemed that the human prince wasn’t about to start putting the moves on Rayla. No, Prince Callum was oblivious, both to his own feelings and to Rayla’s. Which was fine with him, Belenus DID find it distasteful for a human and an elf to be together, and they were too young for that anyway.

“Very well,” he finally said after taking far too long to chew a rutabega, making Callum writhe with agony from the awkwardness. “As long as we’re both clear on the matter.”

“Yes sir,” said Callum with a note of disappointment.

“Good. If you’re finished eating, leave your plate in the sink and come with me.”

He led Callum outside to the workshop, fortunately enclosed within the backyard. Too, at this hour, the neighbors would be occupied with their own business and not prying into his goings-on. Belenus indicated a stool for Callum to be seated, and when the human was in place, he picked up a sketch pad. Callum perked up with interest.

“You draw too?”

Belenus gave him half a smile. “What kind of artisan would I be if I couldn’t sketch out my concepts?”

“What are you drawing?”

“Well… you. I’m no moon mage, so when I craft illusions I need to draw them first.”

Callum blinked, then brightened. “You’re going to help us?!”

The response was preceded with a sigh. “Initially, I was not planning to, but I realized that whether I like it or not, I am involved. Runaan and I practically raised Rayla, and I think of her as my own daughter. I want her to succeed and find her own path in life, and while I can’t say I approve of this crazy scheme, I do find it a relief that she has something she’s passionate about.” He was drawing as he spoke, pausing to look up at Callum and return to his work. “And I will not lie, I also realized if word got around that I was harboring a human, it would ruin my reputation. Therefore, I am helping you.”

“Thank you,” said Callum quietly, understanding the seriousness of the situation.

“I only ask two things in return,” continued the tinker. “The first is that you spend a few days in Alendis. There is a mage academy there, and you should know a few more spells than just the two you mentioned. You aren’t much help to Rayla or much of a protector for Prince Azymondias if you can only make the wind blow a little. The academy will help you learn some useful skills and more about the Primal Source you’ve connected to.”

Callum nodded. “And the other?”

“When you return to Katolis, find out what happened to my husband and send him home.”

“I promise.”

The initial sketches to capture the prince’s likeness complete, Belenus nodded his assent, and sent Callum inside to go to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't have assassin friends, then you're probably the assassin friend.


	7. Midnight in the Forge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum, unable to sleep, visits the tinker in the forge and learns a few things about magic and elves.

It was just past midnight. The forge glowed with the soft light emanating from the tinker himself, being part of the Lightgiver clan of Sunfire elves. Most of his extended family were healers, doctors and scholars, and he had the same aura of healing they did. He just preferred the forge to the hospital. Although it was night, the absence of the moon meant that the sun’s power was stronger, giving him just enough magic to have light enough to work by.

There was a soft knock at the edge of the forge, and when he looked up from the delicate silver he was working, he saw Prince Callum standing just outside, hood drawn for good measure.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep," he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Belenus eyed him silently for a minute, and then relented. He was, after all, just a kid who likely felt overwhelmed by the responsibility he'd saddled himself with. And frankly, he didn't feel like continuing to be standoffish, it was exhausting. He nodded, and gestured to a stool by the bench.

Callum sat quietly, watching him with interest. After a moment of silence, the tinker spoke. "So, Prince Callum. You couldn't sleep, and decided to come out here and visit me. What's on your mind?"

"Um, well... a lot of stuff, really." At the raised eyebrow Belenus gave him in response, he continued. "Well, okay, so right now you're glowing. Is that a Sunfire thing, like how Rayla can turn invisible?"

Belenus chuckled. "It is a Sunfire thing, yes."

Callum drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "So if Moonshadow elves are strongest at the full moon, does that mean Sunfire elves are strongest at midday?"

"Yes. At noon on the Summer Solstice, Sun mages can even do wonders of healing and destruction such as restoring lost limbs, or creating an explosion that will level a town." He bent a silver wire into swirl and turned the object in his hands. "Sunfire elves, like our Primal source, can be a source of life and light or unrelenting heat and destruction."

"And are you a Sun Mage?" Callum asked.

"I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a proper mage," replied Belenus. "Haven't had the formal training. But I do dabble in both the Solar arcanum I was born with, and I've been reading about moon magic and illusions." He gestured towards a small sphere of selenite resting on a bench nearby, which glowed silver like a miniature moon.

"A Primal Stone?"

"It was a wedding gift." He did not add that it was from Rayla's parents. He was unsure how much his niece had told the prince, and it wasn't his information to divulge. He lifted the stone from its stand and handed it to Callum. “No smashing this to hatch any dragons, please.”

Callum chuckled nervously and held the stone with both hands, carefully and respectfully. The stone was cool in his hands, and filled him with a sense of serenity and calm confidence. It was nothing like the Sky stone, which had contained an almost electric charge and bore with it the heavy, anticipatory feeling of the sky before a storm, and the joy of a sweet wind. He marveled at the treasure for a brief moment before look up and smiling. “It feels so different from the Sky.”

“Imagine how it feels for someone connected to its opposite, the Sun,” said Belenus. He placed a hand on the stone and drew a white-green rune in the air. “_Obscuro_,” he said, and vanished from sight.

Callum stared in awe as the stone was lifted from his hands and floated across the room back to the stand on the table. There was eerie silence.

“Belenus?” He finally asked, wondering when the elf would reappear.

“Boo,” came a warm tenor voice at his ear, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Laughing at the prince’s alarm, he reappeared behind Callum, holding his sides as he doubled over.

“Ha ha,” said Callum dryly. He appreciated the prank, especially since their interactions until this point had been so formal. But he also filed the spell and the rune away in his memory. _Obscuro _for invisibility, needed a moon source. Good to know.

“Can you connect to more than one Source?” Callum asked as Belenus sat back down.

The elf thought about it. “It’s rare, and requires years of study, but every so often a mage will connect to a second primal source. A third is even more rare.” He thought for a moment, and scowled. “One mage of legend connected to all six sources, before he committed an unspeakable crime.”

“What happened?” ask Callum.

“I… it is actually unspeakable. I can’t talk about it. No one can. When he was imprisoned, all records of him, all mentions of his name, all knowledge of his deeds, were cursed so that no one can talk about it. All that is known is that learning all six sources is forbidden, and to beware the Mage’s Mirror.”

“Sounds spooky.”

“Again, I am physically incapable of saying what it is he did, Prince Callum, but it was an abomination.” The tinker put the finishing touches on the silver wire filigree and inspected his work. It was a ring, wrought from silver with an intricate rune of spun wire, curling around a small piece of white crystal. “There,” he said, satisfied. “All it needs now is to be charged and enchanted, and you should be able to use it when necessary.”

Callum leaned forward, excitedly. “What does it do?”

Belenus smiled, his artist’s pride shining through. “Well, simply enough, it makes you look like an elf.” He pulled his sketchbook from where it rested beside him on the table and spun it around to show Callum. Surely enough, there were drawings of the prince as he was – quite good likenesses, if a bit roughly sketched. Next to the portraits were several drawings of a teenaged elf that bore a very strong resemblance to himself. The tinker pointed to a drawing of a Skywing version.

“Given that you connected to the Sky arcanum, my initial thought was Skywing. However, Skywing elves have natural abilities that give them wings and enable them to fly, and it would have been highly suspect if you were unable to bring yours out.” He turned the page, and there was another sketch, this time of a white-haired version with the more typical horns he’d seen on elves rather than the slender, aerodynamic horns of the Skywing elves. “Then, I remembered you would be travelling with Rayla, and no one expects Moonshadow elves to display their powers until the moon is full.”

“So you’re disguising me as a Moonshadow elf?” Callum asked, raising an eyebrow.

Belenus shook his head. “It would be rather strange if a Moonshadow elf was casting Sky magic and no Moon magic. So then, I remembered that inter-clan unions often produce children who are a mix of their parents’ abilities and appearances. The son of, say, a distant cousin of Runaan’s, that married a Skywing elf would have his mother’s looks and his father’s magic.” He pointed to a third drawing, which looked quite a bit like the second drawing he’d been shown, but with slightly different horns. Notes had been written to the side of each sketch to indicate colors, as well.

“But that’s not all,” Belenus said, excited. “I got a bit carried away thinking up the backstory, but it’s the perfect cover. Moonshadow and Skywing elves are often across the border to function as spies—”

“Wait, what?” interjected Callum. This was news to him.

“—and so for most of your young life, you lived in secret, hiding under human disguises, to protect your parents’ cover as an average human merchant and an average human weaver. You’ve lived your entire life in Katolis, which explains why your accent is strange and why you don’t know much about Xadian customs. But now that tensions have escalated, your parents have sent you back to Xadia, for safety and to begin studying magic.”

Callum took it in. It seemed to be a pretty airtight backstory. “What if the illusion fails or someone discovers me?”

“Easy,” Belenus said dismissively. “It's your disguise you used while undercover.”

Callum thought about it, turning the idea over in his mind. It was… actually not a bad plan at all. “Thank you,” he said, after a while, with quiet gratitude. “You didn’t have to help us come up with a backstory.”

The tinker waved his hand. “Like I said, I got carried away as I was designing the illusion. It was fun.”

“You’re way nicer than I thought you would be. A lot of elves are.” He looked down and smiled ruefully. “Rayla hasn’t exactly seen humanity’s good side. I was a huge jerk to her at first, and then I messed up and did dark magic, even if I was trying to help. Plus Soren and Claudia tried to kidnap me and Ez, and there was the stuff with my Aunt…”

Belenus cut him off. “Prince Callum. You have been nothing but respectful since you’ve set foot in my home. While I will admit the idea of a human being under my roof, much less in my forge and having a conversation with me makes me uncomfortable, you’ve shown me that there is at least one human out there who isn’t a monster. If you and your brother are as good as Rayla claims, then I do hope your mission succeeds.”

“Thank you, Belenus.”

The tinker nodded his acceptance. “Well then. Shall we program the illusion?”

The forge glowed white with the swirl of lunar magic, and when it was finished, he was left holding a silver ring with a faintly glowing rune. He held it out to Callum, who accepted it with gratitude.

“As long as the ring is around a finger, you’ll be disguised.” He pointed to the crystal. “This moonstone will keep it powered – just make sure you keep the stone intact, and maybe let it sit out in the moonlight every so often to keep the magic fresh.”

“Yeah, okay,” said Callum, cradling it in his palms and admiring the intricate craftsmanship.

“While I do appreciate the admiration of my work, are you… planning to _test_ the illusion?”

“Oh! Yeah.” Callum stood and held the ring over his finger, excited. He then paused. “This isn’t going to hurt, is it?”

Belenus frowned in confusion. “Why would an illusion hurt?”

“Okay, okay, just checking.”

He scrunched his eyes closed and put the ring on. It didn’t feel like anything different, he still felt like himself. But when he opened his eyes and looked down at his hands, there were only four fingers.

Belenus smiled. He had done it. With his work finished, however, the urge to sleep was creeping up on him.

“I need a mirror right now,” said Callum, breathless as he inspected the parts of himself he could see. His clothes, from what he could tell, looked more or less like his, just… elf-ier. He wanted to see what the rest of him looked like.

“There’s a mirror in the spare room,” said the tinker, ushering the prince inside. “You can preen in there, and perhaps sleep if you can. But,” and he turned to smile at Callum as he pulled the back door of the house open, “if you happen to be awake at dawn, perhaps we can take that illusion for a test drive at the morning market?”

“Yeah, that’d be great!”

“Then I will see you at sunrise, Prince Callum.”

“Oh, uh – you can just call me Callum.”

Belenus nodded. “The good night, Callum.” He turned and headed upstairs to his room, pleased with his work and curious about his own enthusiasm for the project.


	8. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla see's Callum's new disguise for the first time, and has a chat with her uncle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think with this chapter I'm going to start posting 3 times a week instead of two. Otherwise I'm going to be posting this well into December and I'd rather release it quicker, especially since I've got a pretty solid buffer established. 
> 
> New schedule is Sunday-ish, Tuesday-ish and Friday-ish!

Rayla awoke to the rough scratch and static crackle of Zym’s tongue licking her cheek. When she groaned and mumbled “five more minutes,” he sat on her stomach with a whine. Didn’t she know it was breakfast time?

“Fine, fine, I’m up,” Rayla muttered, sitting up with a groan. The sun was streaming through the window, indicating it was a few hours after sunrise. She always felt sleepy and sore the morning after a new moon, but, probably due to all the walking and sleeping in caves, she was particularly stiff today. Zym sat eagerly at the edge of her bed, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Oh, don’t give me that look, I know you just want breakfast.” Zym grumbled and snapped his jaw in response. “Alright, fine, let’s go see if there’s more fish in the cupboard.”

She plodded downstairs, with the dragon winding his way around her ankles eagerly, and grabbed another dried fish from where her uncle had stored them a bit more securely. Zym began to chow down greedily, and Rayla realized that the house was very quiet.

“Bel? Callum?” she called quietly. It was unlikely that Belenus would still be asleep. When he wasn’t working through the night, he always rose at dawn, without fail. The door to Callum’s room was closed, however, and Rayla figured he was still asleep.

She spied a note on the counter, and read the looping script of her uncle’s handwriting.

“_Rayla – gone to market for breakfast. Will return shortly with a surprise!”_

Ah. Well, Zym had been fed and she was awake. She returned upstairs to dress and freshen up for the day.

While she was washing the sleep crusties from her eyes, she heard the front door open and her uncle’s voice echoing in the front room as he conversed with someone.

“That went well,” her uncle said, as the door closed. “I think Maewyn likes you.” The second voice mumbled something she couldn’t make out, and Belenus laughed. “Oh, don’t mind her. She flirts with everyone her age.”

Rayla briskly trotted down the stairs to get a look at this newcomer. Had Bel lost his mind? What if this friend from the market saw Zym? Or worse, Callum?

Belenus saw her accusatory glare peering around the corner. “Ah, there she is! Good morning, Rayla.”

The newcomer was an elven boy roughly her age, with pale skin and shaggy slate-blue hair. He was attired simply, in a dark scarf, blue short-sleeved tunic, dark pants and boots, and long fingerless gloves. His horns looked like thin Moonshadow horns, but the pale blue-white markings across his cheeks and arms, plus the hair color, suggested this boy had at least one Skywing elf in his family.

He turned toward her, and she got a good look at his face. She knew that face, and those bright green eyes.

“_CALLUM_?!” she squawked in disbelief.

“Hey Rayla!” he said, cheerfully. “What do you think?”

She circled him like a confused cat, getting a closer look while rubbing her eyes in disbelief (and ignoring her uncle’s laughter). It _looked_ believable (even if the idea of dorky human Callum as an elf was doing confusing things to her brain). She reached out and poked the pointed tip of his ear, and was surprised to find it had the same kind of give and tactile flexibility a real one would. She squeezed, hard, and when he didn’t react she relaxed. Just illusions. Belenus had done it… and it was _weird_.

She pinched the pointed ear again, and poked one of the horns (she wasn’t about to start thinking of them as ‘his’). Both felt as real under her fingertips as her own. She grabbed a horn and wiggled it, and his head wiggled with the horn, causing Callum to pull away and give her an accusatory look. Before he could say anything, she grabbed his hand, and poked where his fifth finger should have been. She felt nothing but air. She pinched the thin air, and Callum winced and withdrew his hand.

“Are you done poking at me now?” he asked, rubbing his pinched hand.

“Take it off,” she demanded. Callum obliged, and from his invisible pinky removed a silver ring. With the ring off of his finger, the unfamiliar and confusing teenaged elf was replaced by the familiar, less-confusing human prince – blue hair gave way to brown, the clothing shifted to the more familiar human design (although apparently he had forgone his jacket for this outing), and the pointed ears and horns vanished. Rayla relaxed.

“You’ll have to get used to it,” said Belenus, taking the morning’s shopping into the kitchen. “You’re going to Alendis to take Callum to the Mage academy there, so he can learn a few more spells. ”

“What? Why?” she asked, folding her arms defiantly. “We need to get Zym home.”

Belenus retrieved a knife from the drawer and began slicing fruit. “Because spending a few days in Alendis is what I asked for in exchange for crafting the ring and the illusion. Prince Callum needs to be able to help out if you get into more trouble.”

Rayla scoffed. “I can fight off anything that attacks us.”

“Okay, Rayla, and I appreciate that,” interjected Callum. “But what if you’re not there? What if you’re off scouting, or we get into another fight like the one where you were saving that red dragon? You can’t do everything by yourself.”

She rolled her eyes. “Can’t you just borrow a scroll from the library?”

“A scroll won’t teach him everything he needs to know about his arcanum, Rayla.” Belenus scooped the sliced fruit onto plates, and set in to spooning some yogurt onto the berries. “He needs to talk to a Sky mage.”

“And won’t the sky mages notice when he can’t pop wings out like an elf with a sky arcanum can?”

“That’s why your uncle decided on a mixed-clan elf,” Callum said helpfully. “No one will expect a Moonshadow elf to fly.”

“Skyshadow,” corrected Belenus. When the two teens looked at him in confusion, he shrugged. “My cousin is an Earthblood and Sunfire clan mix. She insists on being called a Earthfire elf. Interclan children aren’t common, but those who are seem to prefer referring to themselves with a combination of both clans.”

Rayla gave up. The yogurt and berries had been set on the table now and she was too hungry to argue further about it. “Fine,” she grumbled, sitting down. “Three days in Alendis, and then we move on.”

She started into her breakfast silently, glaring at the both of them and regretting ever introducing Callum to Belenus. Less than a day and they were already getting friendly. She figured it was possible – Bel was an easy-going sort, and once he’d gotten over his prejudice towards humans he had warmed up to Callum. And of course Callum latched on to the nearest mage again, ready with another round of questions about magic and arcana and whatever else. It didn’t help that Bel was an artist too, adding more fuel to the fire.

Even if he was making them go to Alendis, it was good that they’d be leaving soon, before Callum and Belenus became friends and turned the house into a total nerd party.

“Of course, if you’re going with the story that you were raised by your mother, you’ll definitely have to work on being a bit more secretive and mysterious.”

Rayla looked up and eyeballed them. She’d re-entered the conversation at a weird time. “What are you two plotting?”

“We’re going over my backstory,” replied Callum. “I figured it’d be easier to answer nosy questions about life living under cover in Katolis if the story is one I already know. So we’re saying my dad died when I was little, and I lived with my mom and step-dad – a human who had no idea we were elves! – and—”

Rayla cut him off. “Or you could just not say anything.” At Callum’s puzzled look, she continued. “If you’re gonna pretend to be a Moonshadow elf, then I’m gonna teach you a phrase that’s great for shutting down any nosy question.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

Rayla frowned and looked away from him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Callum slid down in his seat. “Oh. You’re the one that brought it up, but okay.”

Belenus broke the tension with laughter. “Ah, yes, the old ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ Moonshadow avoidance tactic.”

Rayla perked back up and smiled slyly. “I was demonstrating, ya dummy. If someone ever asks you something you don’t have a great answer for, just look away and say ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Works almost every time.”

“Almost?”

“Yeah. Sometimes you get stuck on a boat with a nosy human who doesn’t know how to take a hint.”

Callum opened his mouth to reply, and shut it, sulking, realizing the answer to his question before he asked it – the nosy human was him.

“Mad that I called you out?” Rayla teased.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” replied Callum, folding his arms and looking away from her. There was a beat of silence, and he turned back towards her with a grin. Rayla blinked at him for a moment, and then returned the grin.

“Just like that,” and she set back into her breakfast.

As breakfast continued, they made small talk – Callum telling stories about the human world, Belenus telling embarrassing stories about Rayla, Rayla regaling them with her observations about their journey. And finally, Belenus pushed away from the table.

“Callum, would you mind cleaning up on your own? I’d like to speak with Rayla privately before you head out.”

“Um, sure,” said Callum, standing to gather the dishes. He shot a glance at Rayla, trying to determine the nature of the conversation, but she seemed just as surprised as he was.

As the prince cleared the table, the tinker led his niece outside.

“Is everything alright, Bel?” asked Rayla as she entered the yard.

“Well, I am worried about the success of your mission and your safety. But aside from that, I need to talk to you about Prince Callum.”

“You two seemed pretty chummy at breakfast,” retorted Rayla. “What’s your problem with him now?”

“Not so much a problem as a… concern.” He inhaled, and turned to his niece. “Rayla, do you have feelings for him?”

She froze. It felt like ice had been poured into her stomach, and her heart sped up. “Uh…”

“I’m not mad, if you’re worried about that. He’s a good kid. But… he _is_ human, Rayla.”

Her fingers twisted together as she looked down, neck burning with shame as well as the weird fluttery feeling she got when she looked at him. A thousand thoughts competed to be said first – _How did you know, was it that obvious?! _and _I didn’t ASK to fall for a human! _and _He’s not a monster! _and _You don’t know him like I do!_ and _I don’t care that he’s human!_ \- but what she heard herself saying was a meek “I know.”

Belenus placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and crouched down to look her in the eye. His gaze was warm and pitying. “The heart is a fickle thing, Rayla. For elves your age, crushes come and go like the wind. He might have been the first boy who makes you feel this way, but he won’t be the only one.”

She looked up sharply, anger and shame and love and fear all clashing in her head, and glared at the tinker. How dare he presume such a thing about Callum? But at her petulant gaze, he only chuckled. “I know it doesn’t feel that way right now. Give it time. I only ask that you keep a clear head and ensure that your feelings don’t cloud your judgement.”

Rayla looked away, angry and hurt, but painfully aware of the truth in what her uncle was saying. “I won’t.” Her tone was cold and bitter, and she jerked her shoulder away from him.

Belenus stood. He knew what that meant. “I’ll let Prince Callum know that you’re ready to leave,” he said, the note of sadness evident in his voice.

“Whatever,” she said, not looking at him. She was shutting him out again. He sighed. He’d asked for it, poking at a sensitive spot in her emotions. He wished Runaan was there, he was better at talking to Rayla about difficult subjects without making her defensive.

After Callum had thanked Belenus, retrieved Zym and gathered their things, he put on the ring, resuming the elven disguise, and went outside to where Rayla was sulking. She didn’t say anything to the Prince, but Belenus could tell from the wrinkle of her nose that she was still feeling conflicted about the illusion. He sighed, and watched the trio head back into the woods.

Rayla paused right before she crossed into the undergrowth, and turned. She gave him a small, remorseful wave, and turned to leave before she saw him return the wave.

So that was it then. His niece had fallen for a human prince, he had aided and abetted a very definitely illegal plot to sneak a human all the way in to Castra Draconis, his husband was still missing but potentially rescueable and the Dragon Prince was alive and on his way home. Belenus headed to the forge. It had been an insanely eventful 24 hours, and he needed to switch his brain off for a few hours.

Later that evening, though, two more flowers floated in the fountain beside the purple tinted lily – a lotus edged in emerald green, and another blue as the sky.

He hoped they would be safe.


	9. On the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla and Callum resume their journey

“So…?” cajoled Callum as they walked. The sun was high in the sky now, about an hour before midday. “You’ve been super quiet since we left.”

“I don’t want to—”

“Ah bup bup!” Callum interrupted, waving a finger in the air. “Now that you’ve told me that trick, I know it means you’re avoiding something.” He sped up slightly, to stand in front of her and face her. “C’mon, Rayla, you’ve been acting weird all day. It’s none of my business what you and your uncle talked about, but it’s clearly bothering you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

_Take that disguise off because seeing you like this is making it harder to tell myself I don’t like you like that because you’re human? _She shook her head and held up her hands. “No, Callum, it’s fine.”

He frowned in concern and folded his arms. “You sure?”

“Ugh, _yes_.” She groaned and pushed past him. “At least no one will doubt that you’ve got a Skywing dad.”

“Why’s that?” Callum asked, turning to follow her.

“Because you don’t know how to shut up and mind your own business,” Rayla grumbled in response.

“I’m just curious and concerned.”

Rayla rolled her eyes. Every Skywing elf she’d ever met was ‘just curious,’ some more annoyingly so than others. She really did wonder why Belenus had opted for the mixed-clan approach when Skywing so obviously suited Callum instead. He’d explained it, but she still thought having him be part Moonshadow as an excuse for secrecy was a recipe for disaster.

She stole a glance over to him, just in time to see Zym attempt to clamber up out of the backpack onto his shoulder, using the horns as a grip. Again, Callum’s head leaned to the side as Zym put weight on the horns.

Rayla frowned, her curiosity getting the better of her. “What does that even feel like?”

“What, Zym climbing on me? He’s done it to you too, you should know.”

“No, not that. What’s it feel like to you when someone grabs…” she trailed off, and gestured at her own horns.

“Oh!” Callum lifted Zym off his head shoulder and transferred the baby dragon to the ground, much to Zym’s protest. He then stood, and tentatively grabbed one of the horns.

“Hmm,” he said, exploring the length of it with his hands. “It’s weird because my hands are telling me I’m grabbing a horn, but I don’t actually feel anything on my head.” Callum then gave it an experimental tug to the side, causing his head to tilt. “Pulling on it almost feels like I have a hat on that someone’s pulling my head around with.” He stood up and looked over to Rayla. “What does it feel like when someone yanks on your horns?”

“First of all, they wouldn’t, because it’s rude,” said Rayla.

“Okay, but you pulled on my horn as soon as you saw me,” interjected Callum.

“Yeah, because they’re not real and I wanted to see how good the illusion was,” she replied, hastily. “Second, it feels like… I don’t know, like someone’s pulling on my horns.”

Callum stared at her. She knew it wasn’t a very helpful answer, so she tried to put it in words the human would understand.

“It’s like… if I pull on your arm, you feel it in your shoulder, yeah?”

“Yeah…?”

“So kinda like that, except on top of my skull.”

“There’s no sensation in the horns themselves?”

“Nah, they’re like hair or fingernails. Attached to me, and it hurts if you hit or pull them too hard, but,” and here she flicked one of her horns to demonstrate, “No sensation in the actual horns aside from a wee bit of pressure on my head.”

“Got it.”

They walked on in silence for a moment, before Rayla felt another question rising. “Is it weird, your fifth finger being gone?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s not gone, I can feel it even though I can’t see it.” He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “Besides, the fifth and fourth fingers don’t really move independently. It’s actually really hard to move JUST my pinky, so it’s not that weird.”

“Mm.”

“Do _you_ think it’s weird?” asked Callum.

“What?”

“This. My disguise.”

“Well… yeah. You look pretty different,” she replied. “And I know what you really look like so it’s… confusing, really.”

“You’re not mad about it, are you?”

“What? No, it was my idea in the first place, it’s just. I didn’t expect it to be so believable.”

Rayla glanced over at Callum, who seemed slightly worried. “Why?” she asked. “Did you think I’d be mad?”

“Well, you just reacted weird this morning, so I had to wonder.”

She sighed. “Sorry. It’s a lot to take in, and I’m not really looking forward to spending time in Alendis.”

Callum frowned in concern. “How come?”

She almost fired off her customary ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ response, but she relented. Callum was going to keep pestering her unless she gave him something to go on. “It’s just… before they left to join the Dragon Guard, my parents would take me to Alendis for the Solstice Festival. I haven’t been there in years.”

She left out the part where the Winter Solstice now was extra painful, due to it being the date of her family’s shame and failure to protect the Dragon King. She didn’t need to tell Callum, however – his eidetic memory hadn’t failed him yet. He remembered that her parents had ran away from their duty to protect Thunder, and he was capable of putting two and two together to recognize that they were walking straight into a painful memory.

“We can skip Alendis, if it’s better for you,” said Callum after a moment’s silence. “I’m sure there are other mage schools.”

“No, Bel was right. You DO need to learn more magic in order to help protect Zym, and Alendis has the best Sky Magic school in Xadia.” She sighed. “I’ll be fine.”

“Well, you won’t have to do it alone.” Callum stooped to pick up Zym, who squawked in indignation about being held when he’d resigned himself to not being held. “You got me and Zym to back you up! We’re here for you if you need us.”

Rayla smiled softly at him, her heart fluttering at the strange sight of her prince turned into an elf. She knew he meant it. “Thanks.”

She looked ahead. Alendis was just a few more hours away.


	10. Back to School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla arrive in Alendis, one of the larger Xadian cities, and get right to getting Callum some mage training.

“Enroll for only a few days?”

After reaching the city mid-afternoon and finding an inn that would house them for a few nights (in exchange for their help cleaning the inn and a regular daily shift helping prepare meals), Callum had made a beeline for the Academy, in hopes to enroll before they closed their doors for the day.

The administrator at the Academy was a short Skywing woman named Alla – it said so on the placard upon the desk she was seated behind. And while she had seen many students come and go, of all kinds of clan ancestry, she’d never seen a student ask to enroll for only a few days, nor one with such a funny accent.

“Yes,” said the strange half-sky, half-moon boy in front of her. “I’m on a journey to see as much of my homeland as I can, since I missed out on so much growing up.”

“Well,” she said, resting her cheek in one hand. “I suppose there isn’t any harm in you sitting in on lessons, since you already have the knack and know a few spells. It might be somewhat basic for you—”

“Basic is fine!” said the boy, perhaps a little too eagerly. He composed himself and chuckled in a way he probably thought was suave. “I mean… there’s only so much you can glean from reading your dad’s old spellbooks.”

“… Right.” Alla turned to a chart on the wall depicting which instructors were in office and which were away. “Well, I suppose I can schedule you a private lesson with one of our mages.”

“That’d be great!”

“Very well. Magister Zeru will be in tomorrow – be at his office at noon.” She stood, and dusted the loose folds of her robe off. “As for today, would you like to sit in on a dueling class?”

“Yes please.”

“Follow me, then. Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Ca-“ Callum caught himself before he could say his full name. He had no way of knowing whether an elf had heard about the Katolis royal family or not! If there were tons of Xadian spies, who knew if the elves he encountered would recognize the name of Prince Callum?

“Caelum,” he supplied instead, and congratulated himself. Basically the same name, right?

Alla led him down a vaulted open-air hallway to a small coliseum-like arena. Half a dozen elves, roughly his age, sat in the benches around the ring, while two more stood in the center, squaring off to spar. An older elf, a tall, gaunt Skywing man in a sleeveless tunic, held up one hand and sharply brought it down. “Begin!” he cried, and the two students in the ring began to circle each other.

The administrator flagged him down, and he jogged over to the pair of them. “Hello Alla,” he said when he drew closer. “New student?”

“This is Caelum,” she replied, placing a hand on Callum’s shoulder. “He’s somewhat of an unusual case – I’ll let him explain it – but I thought that for today he could watch the students his age spar.”

“Ah, great!” said the instructor, placing his hand on his hips and beaming at Callum. “Fresh blood for the ring!” At Callum’s somewhat stricken look, the instructor laughed and clapped an arm around Callum’s shoulders. “Just joking, Caelum. Name’s Ferin, nice to meet you.”

“Um, nice to meet you too.” The disguise must certainly have been doing its job, because this was the friendliest an elf had ever been to Callum at first brush, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“So what’s this about you being an unusual case?” Ferin asked as he led Callum over to the ring of benches. The two students sparring were really going at it now, throwing shards of ice and blasts of thunder – all of which, interestingly, terminated at the glowing line of runes surrounding the ring.

Callum gave Ferin the short version of his made-up backstory: moonshadow mother and skywing father assigned to work as spies across the border, had him, dad died, mom ordered to carry on and not abandon her mission despite her son, he grew up in Katolis pretending to be human, with war brewing he was now back in Xadia to reconnect with his true home.

“Wow,” said Ferin after Callum had told the tale. “If I didn’t know a guy that went so deep under cover he almost _married_ a human, I’d think you were yanking my horns.” He stepped back and sized Callum up. “Okay, so your arcanum takes after your dad, which is why you’re in my class and not Anelle’s learning moon magic. Do you know any spells?”

“Only _Aspiro_ and _Fulminis_,” replied Callum.

“Those are some pretty different spells!” said Ferin with a chuckle.

“My mother had to destroy most of dad’s personal spell book when he died, but those two were mostly intact. I actually had to get the word for _Fulminis_ from my friend.” Lying, Callum realized, was so much easier when it was just the truth with the details tweaked.

The two dueling student mages were quite well-matched, and without much warning, the taller of the two, a square-jawed older boy with slicked back hair, activated his wings. The smattering of marks on his arms glowed white-blue, and a majestic pair of brown-and-white dappled wings sprouted from his back. He flapped, and rose into the air.

Ferin blew sharply on the whistle around his neck. “No flying during duel practice, Tenyo!”

Tenyo scowled, and dropped back to the ground, just in time for his opponent to hit him with a blast of ice that pushed him into the ring. A red light flashed, and the barrier dropped.

“Okay, good work!” called Ferin, leading Callum over to the group.

“Hey, who’s the half-breed?” called Tenyo, jerking his chin up to indicate Callum.

“This is Caelum, and he’ll be sitting in on our class today to observe,” replied Ferin sternly. “He’s spent most of his life doing dangerous espionage work in the human lands, and is going to be at the academy for a few days to pick up some more magic.”

There was a mumbled susurrus of “hi Caelum” from the gathered students. Save, of course, for Tenyo, who merely frowned and crossed his arms.

“Um, hey,” Callum replied, bowing slightly. “Thanks for letting me sit in on your class.”

A few students began whispering to each other, until Ferin blew his whistle. “Alright! Now that we’ve taken care of that, the next match is between Maia and Lenya!”

Callum took a seat beside the ring as two girls, one short and muscular, the other tall and thin, entered the ring. The barrier flashed green, and Ferin dropped his hand. “Begin!”

He watched, enraptured, at the duel before him. Seated this close, he could hear the names of the spells they were calling out. _Aspiro Frigis_ for a blast of icicles. _Nubes Nebula_ for a cloud of fog that obscured the caster. _Scutum Pluviam_ for a shield made of rain. _Vortex Turbinis _for a whirlwind. His mind stored each new spell, memorizing the rune in a flash and trying to store the draconic words as well.

It was a very informative 90 minutes, all said and done. Ferin finally blew the whistle one last time, and shouted “Alright, that’s enough for today! Be sure you study the section on wind runes tonight!”

As the various students stretched and stood to leave, Ferin jogged over to Callum. “So, how was that?”

“Informative,” replied Callum. “There’s so much you can do with Sky magic! Is _Aspiro Frigis_ the only variant on _Aspiro_, or are there other things you can do with your breath like that?”

Ferin laughed. “You’re a quick one! There are other variants on _Aspiro_, yes. _Aspiro Calidus_ will get you fire breath, _Aspiro Olidus_ will make a stink cloud, and so on.”

“Wow,” Callum said, beaming with excitement. “I’m going to learn so much.”

“Well, slow down there,” chided Ferin. “Some of those runes take weeks to memorize.”

“Oh, uh. Memory isn’t much of a problem for me,” said Callum, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Really?”

Callum hesitated for a moment, before drawing the most complex rune he’d seen in the air, the fog cloud, and whispering _“Nubes Nebula_.” Thick vapor spilled from the rune, and Callum stepped back into the fog, feeling the cool mist on his skin. He couldn’t see anything through the cloud, but he did hear the faint whisper of a rune being drawn.

“Very quick!” called Ferin through the fog. “However, magical dueling is about more than spell memorization. Knowing the appropriate counter spell is important too! _Dispersit_.” The fog rolled away as quickly as it had come. “You’re an interesting one, Caelum,” he commented, folding his arms but smiling in good humor.

“Um, thank you?”

“If you aren’t busy tomorrow, do come back. We’ll see how you handle a sparring match.”

Callum nodded, and turned to leave the arena. He wasn’t sure how he felt about being thrown straight into a sparring match, but he was certainly willing to try!


	11. Lightning Chicken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baited into a stand-off with a bully, Callum makes a serious mistake.

Callum had made it all of ten feet outside the front door of the Magic Academy when he heard a sneering voice behind him call out “Hey, half-breed!”

He recognized the voice. It was that Tenyo guy from dueling class, the one who had a sneering comment about everything and everyone in class. He struck Callum as a real big jerkface, and one he didn’t particularly fee like dealing with. He just wanted to get back to the inn to help make dinner, and get some rest so he could be refreshed for his meeting with the Magister tomorrow. He ignored the insult, and kept walking.

Two other Skywing boys, both somewhat older that Callum (and somewhat taller), stepped in front of him and cut him off. “Our friend was talking to you,” said the thinner of the two, who had grey eyes and long black hair tied back in a ponytail.

The other one, with his hair in a quiff and the sides shaved, pushed Callum in the shoulder with a finger. “Yeah. It’s rude not to respond when someone wants to talk to you.”

“Oh, he meant _me_!” said Callum in mock disbelief. “I thought he was just yelling at the sky, for fun.”

“Castor! Pollux!” called Tenyo, and finally Callum turned around to see his aggressor storming towards him. “Thanks for stopping the half-breed. Did you let him know how rude he’s being?”

“Sure did,” said ponytailed one, Castor.

“Okay, I’m pretty sure calling me half-breed all the time makes _you_ the rude one?” retorted Callum, scowling up at the older boy.

“Wow, _no_ manners,” said Pollux. “And what’s up with that stupid accent?”

“Guess that’s what happens when you spend your whole life around barbarians and monsters,” said Tenyo, folding his arms across his chest. Castor and Pollux mirrored his gesture, and it dawned on Callum that he was surrounded by bullies. His heart began to thud anxiously inside his chest, but he inhaled slowly and exhaled, remembering to breathe.

“Not really a Skywing, not really a Moonshadow…” said Tenyo, with condescension. “Grew up in human lands… gosh, it’s almost like you’re not really an _elf_.”

He wasn’t wrong, so Callum found it hard to be insulted. He was just annoyed with this sneering jerk, and wanted this interaction to be over. “Did another mixed-clan elf spit in your berry juice?” asked Callum, deciding to rise above it. “You really seem to have it out for me just because my parents weren’t from the same clan.”

Tenyo got in his face, uncomfortably close. “I have it out for you,_ half-breed_, because you think you can waltz into class with your half-formed arcanum and learn from the best mages in Xadia. I bet you can’t even fly.”

“And I bet _you_ can’t turn invisible at the full moon, but you don’t see me judging you for that, do you?” Callum stood up straight, defiant. “I’ve got better things to do that stand here and let you insult me.”

He pushed past Castor and Pollux (who were a lot lighter than they looked) and began to walk away, until he heard Tenyo snort to his friends. “Typical Moonshadow. All they’re good for is running away.”

_That_ stopped him in his tracks. Callum didn’t particularly care about being insulted himself. He was used to getting dunked on. But what he wouldn’t stand for was one of the bravest people he knew being called a coward, _especially_ when it was something he knew she was sensitive about.

He spun on his heel and glared at Tenyo. “Take that back.”

“Or what,” sneered Tenyo. “You’ll turn invisible on me?”

Callum said nothing in response, just simply drew a rune in the air. “_Fulmi—”_

Tenyo had closed the distance between them in a blink, and clamped his hand around Callum’s, stifling the lightning spark blooming in there and preventing the bolt from being thrown. He drew the same rune with his free hand, and Callum, thinking quickly, clamped his hand around Tenyo’s before the bolt could be cast on him.

“Oh snap!” called Pollux, cheering. “_LIGHTNING CHICKEN!!”_

A crowd was beginning to form, comprised of students leaving the academy for the day. The two boys stood there, hands gripped tightly around each other’s as sparks and bolts erratically flashed between their palms. Tenyo grinned fiercely at Callum, who was worriedly glancing from hand to hand, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this without getting a face-full of lightning.

“Never played lightning chicken before, half-breed?” smirked Tenyo. “Better hang on tight, then, because the first one of us to let go is getting zapped with both bolts. But, oh!” he looked up, in mock surprise. “Your itty bitty wimpy arcanum won’t have enough juice to hold the spell for that long!”

“I don’t need to hold it all day,” spat Callum. “I just need to hold it long enough to beat you.”

“Pfft, okay,” retorted Tenyo. “I’d like to see you try.”

They stood there, straining to contain the lightning in their hands, sweating as the minutes dragged on.

“Get him, Tenyo!” cheered Castor, Pollux and some other Academy students.

“Teach that jerk a lesson, new guy!” shouted others, eager to see the arrogant school bully put in his place at last.

It was true that Callum’s arcanum was new, or newly connected, and probably not as strong as he might have liked. He hadn’t had much practice actually using it, beyond a spell here and there, and exerting this kind of pressure on it was really taking a toll on him. He could feel the sweat pouring down his spine and his arms beginning to shake as he exerted himself. But he was angry now, and determined to show up this Tenyo jerk. And Callum had determination in spades. He dug down within himself, remembered what it was like to be the wing, to ride the storm. He felt static building behind his eyes, and blinked. Breathe.

It did give Callum some relief to see that Tenyo didn’t look so hot, either. His forehead was beading with sweat, and he sniffed, hard, as though he was trying to clear a runny nose or nosebleed.

An idea struck Callum. Tenyo, despite being taller, wasn’t that strong. He could tell from the way the Skywing elf was gripping his hands, it was nothing like Soren’s bone-crunching grip. Tenyo was straining, too, despite Callum not being that strong himself. And he’d resorted to flight when his sparring match seemed to be going against him.

Tenyo was not a fighter.

Neither was Callum, but he had spent many, many days getting his butt handed to him by Soren, which was more than he could say for Tenyo. Probably. If his plan succeeded, he’d win lightning chicken before he seriously hurt himself. If it didn’t, he’d get hit by lightning twice. But he had to try his dumb idea anyway, so here went nothing.

He hooked a foot behind Tenyo’s ankle and pulled.

It wasn’t a proper leg sweep, but it did just enough to knock Tenyo off balance that the Skywing elf released Callum’s hand. Thinking quickly, the prince pointed away from the crowd and from Tenyo, towards a clear patch of sky, and fired his bolt away from people. As he did so, he felt the bolt cast by Tenyo in his other hand flow through him and out his extended finger, a jittery feeling that made his heart beat too fast. He released Tenyo, and stepped back, panting.

There was a brief silence, and the crowd went nuts. Elven teenagers pressed around him, clapping him on the back and congratulating him on defeating Tenyo. A Sunfire girl congratulated him on his leg sweep, and a Moonshadow elf praised his slightly-underhanded distraction tactic. High fours and handshakes went all around, and Tenyo and his buddies slinked away.

But Callum was barely registering any of it. The world was now swimming, and the sounds were being drowned out by a fuzzy feeling in his ears. His heart pounded in his chest, and his back felt so, so hot. Was it the lightning channeled through him? No, he’d read about being struck by lightning, it was supposed to make you make you feel twitchy, short-circuited. He felt like he was swimming through lead.

With dread, he realized he felt the way he did after he’d cast Dark Magic.

Unlike that experience, however, he couldn’t dismiss the sensation in his back and arms, like his skin was too tight, like if he moved the wrong way he’d split open. A thousand pinpricks crawled along his spine, and he felt so, so lightheaded. A pressure beneath his shoulders, like he wanted to throw up but instead of that feeling in his guts and throat, it was in his spine, crawling down his neck and through his skull, and spilling out the top of his head.

The pressure continued until it morphed into a tearing, burning sensation in his upper back. There was a ripping sound (he wasn’t sure where it came from) and, a minute too late, he realized he was magically overloading. The pressure of energy within him released, and exploded outwards from him.

Callum passed out cold, and collapsed in the middle of the square, sprawled on top of a pair of grey wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a tweest!


	12. Triage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla rushes to the hospital, and sees the aftermath of Callum's magical overload.

Rayla burst into the hospital in a frenzy. “Where is he?!”

The rumor mill in Alendis ran quickly, and as soon as word that a half-sky half-moon teenager had collapsed after magically overloading at the Academy, she had grabbed Zym and bolted for the hospital.

The Sunfire healer at the entrance shushed her. “This is a place of healing! Please keep your voice down.”

“Where’s Callum!?” Rayla demanded in a hiss between her teeth.

With irritating methodicalness, the healer consulted a clipboard of patients. “Caelum? The Skyshadow boy who passed out?”

“Yeah, him. Where is he?”

“Follow me,” bade the healer tersely, internally rolling her eyes. _Moonshadow teenagers, so moody_, she thought to herself. She led Raya down a hallway and to a private room. It was darkened slightly within, and when her eyes adjusted to the dim light, Rayla gasped.

Callum lay on a suspended stretcher, face down, with a hole in the stretcher cut out for his face. He lay there, motionless but breathing. His disguise was still intact (thank the stars), but what startled her were the wings.

They draped over his back and down the sides of the stretcher, splayed on top of him like a wounded bird, downy and light grey.

Rayla looked to the healer, agog, searching for an explanation. The healer sighed, patiently, and explained.

“According to the administrator at the Academy, he was forcing his arcanum to maintain a _Fulminis_ spell in a fight with another boy. It was a bit too much for him, though, and caused his magical power to spike erratically and force the physiological changes that cause Skywing elves to manifest their wings.”

“But he’s –!” Rayla caught herself before she finished that sentence with _human_.

“From what I was told, he was raised by his mother in human lands and wasn’t connected to his Skywing heritage. It’s likely he just didn’t know how to tap into that part of himself yet.”

Which was great, Rayla supposed, but that whole backstory was complete banther poo. Through sheer force of will, Callum, a human, had forced his way into connecting to a primal source. Did that come with all the other elven powers, too? “Will he be okay?” Rayla finally said, voice quiet.

“Oh, all he needs is a few hours of rest. He should spring back by tomorrow.” The healer glanced down the hallway. “You may remain in here if you wish, but I must tend to other patients now.”

“Yeah, sure, thanks,” said Rayla, ignoring her for the most part and stepping into the room. The healer nodded and closed the door behind her, and Rayla exhaled all the tension and bravery she’d been holding onto to not betray her feelings.

Zym whined from within the backpack, and she let the dragonling out. He crept along the floor and whined up at Callum’s unconscious face before looking back at her.

“He’s just sleeping,” she explained. Zym gave Callum one more worried look, then trundled over to a nearby chair and curled up, peering over his tail at the two teens anxiously.

She crouched down to get a look at Callum’s face through the hole in the stretcher. He was breathing, and looked tired and a bit ill. Not nearly as bad as he did after the whole ‘experimenting with dark magic’ thing, much to her relief, but still not great either. She stood, and stared at the rest of him.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d have assumed he was an elf through and through. Horns, ears, wings, four fingers. She paused. Maybe the wings were an illusion too? The ring reacting to the magical overload and producing the result it thought it was supposed to?

She crept around to Callum’s right side and lifted his hand. She couldn’t feel the fifth finger, but she knew it was there. She closed her fingers around thin air, and slid them upwards. About halfway up what should have been his finger, she felt the ring appear in her hand and the illusion disappear. Horns vanished, blue hair faded to brown, five fingers once more.

The wings, however, remained. She could see now, as well, that the back of his clothing had been ripped quite badly by the emerging wings. She peered at the skin on his back, where the wings had sprouted, and lightly touched the flesh of the joint. The wing twitched. They were real.

Rayla replaced the ring and stepped back, fascinated and a little horrified. How was she going to explain _that_ to him? No, back up, someone needed to explain this to _her_, first, and give her some answers about why and how a human – _a human!_ – was suddenly sprouting wings like a Skywing elf. Was the sky arcanum that powerful? If he’d connected to, say, the moon instead of the sky, would he be able to turn invisible once a month like she could?

“What’s going on?” she asked Zym, completely at a loss. The dragon let out a faint “_gwah” _ sound and flapped off the chair and onto the stretcher, standing on Callum’s back. He nuzzled one of the wings, and chirruped at Rayla in a questioning tone. Clearly, he was just as confused as she was.

Callum groaned a little, and Rayla picked Zym up. “You’re squishing him, and he needs to rest.” Zym wailed like an annoyed cat, and she gave in. “You can sit on my lap and I’ll give you chin scritches until he wakes up,” she cajoled, saying a temporary farewell to the circulation in her legs.

With Zym calming down and accepting the pats, Rayla settled in. “You gotta stop doing this to me, Callum,” she mumbled, waiting for him to wake up.

_He stood in an endless room. _

_“Wait, I’ve been here before,” he said, glancing around warily, looking out for the creepy Dark Magic version of himself he’d encountered the last time, or King Harrow, or his mother, or anything else._

_He glanced down, and the cube, the Key of Aaravos, was in his hand, the Sky Primal side up and facing him, glowing with steady blue light._

_“Congratulations,” said a voice behind him, and he whirled around. It was himself – his normal self, no dark magic or other weirdness – standing motionless across the room and holding something against his chest. “You’re a primal creature now.”_

_“But that’s what I wanted,” he said to the double. “I wanted to connect to the Sky Primal and find my own arcanum, and I did.”_

_Thunder rumbled within the void. It began to rain. _

_“So much that you’d forget what you are?” asked the double, striding closer. _

_“I didn’t forget,” he protested. “I never do. I’m human.”_

_“You think so?” replied the double, turning the flat object in his arms around. It was a mirror, and his reflection was wrong._

_It was his face, his hair, his clothes, his hands, yes, but the horns the ears the wings did not belong._

_He gasped and the lightning flashed._

_He was in his bedroom back in the castle, staring out the window at the storm. His mother sat down beside him on the bed. “See anything interesting?” she asked._

_“I like watching the lightning. Did you know it makes different patterns?”_

_“You _should_ be sleeping,” she said. “You’re meeting with someone important tomorrow.”_

_“I am?” he asked, moving away from the window and settling in to lay down._

_“Yes, my dove,” she said softly, stroking his hair. _

_The lightning flashed, and he woke up._


	13. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum wakes up in the hospital and makes a surprising discovery

Callum was laying on a cot, his face wedged into a hole that allowed him to breathe. He felt sluggish and heavy, and when he tried to sit up it felt like something was sitting on his back. He groaned, and tried again, pushing himself up with his arms, which felt like they were made of both lead and jelly at the same time.

Where was he, and what the heck had happened?

Right. He’d gotten himself caught up in some dumb superiority contest that was apparently called _lightning chicken_. Good job, Callum, A+, first day of mage school and you overload yourself. He groaned, both at his idiotness and at how cruddy he felt.

There was a gasp and whimper to his left, and a few seconds later a smiling storm dragon appeared underneath his cot. “Hey, Zym,” he said tiredly. “If you’re here I guess Rayla is too, huh?”

“You got that right,” came the Moonshadow elf’s voice further to his left. She sounded mad.

“Hi Rayla,” he said, not really up for a fight. “Um, where are we?”

“The hospital.”

“Oh. Oh, okay, that makes sense.” He paused. “Um, does anyone know about my, er, ring?”

“As far as I can tell? No.” Terse answers. She was really mad. Or tired. Or worried?

“Cool, cool…” he paused, and drummed his fingers on the cot where his hands rested by his ears. “Quick question, is there something sitting on me? Or am I just that exhausted?”

“You don’t know?” she asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked.”

He heard her get up and walk over to him. “What’s this feel like?” she asked, and there was a sudden, unidentifiable tickle near his shoulder. He felt the muscle back there twitch and he squeaked, reflexively curling up and drawing away from the sensation.

Upon rolling over, he realized he was laying on something near his shoulder, but also that he was experiencing pressure on the thing he was laying on. There was also something laying on top of his hip and leg, wrapped around his side. He uncurled slightly and sat up on one arm, and looked up at Rayla, who was standing over him with a hand outstretched, eyes wide.

“What was that?” he asked,

Rayla clasped her hands in front of her mouth, thinking for a moment. “Okay,” she said slowly, after a moment. “Don’t freak out, but you kind of overdid it with the magic earlier.”

“Yeah, I’m aware, I figured that’s why I’m in the hospital.”

“That’s not the only thing.” She reached down and lifted the heavy thing off of Callum’s leg, and it was so strange because he could _feel_ her hand touching whatever it was, like she was touching his arm but it wasn’t his arm it was—

He turned his head sharply to look where she was touching, at the same time feeling whatever it was pulling away from her hand by some contraction of muscle in his back and it was large, grey and feathery and attached to him.

He sat up very quickly, ignoring the woozy feeling because it wasn’t as important as confirming the dawning realization that the soft feathery thing he was laying on was actually part of him, growing out of him. It reacted with him, counterbalancing his sudden movement and extending away from his body.

Wings. There were wings coming out of his back. He reached out and touched the feathered appendage, and quickly withdrew his hand when he felt the soft feathers but also the sensation of being touched.

Callum looked at Rayla, eyes wide with shock.

She held up her hands. “Don’t look at me, I’m just as surprised as you are.”

He inhaled slowly, pushing his rising panic back down. “Okay, good to know, no human in recorded history that I’m aware of has ever connected to a primal source, this might be perfectly normal sky primal business.” He laughed, a short, panicked sound. “I just pushed myself too hard and my arcanum reacted, that’s all this is.”

“You sound real confident about that.” Rayla’s reply was dripping with sarcasm. She slumped back down in the chair and rested her chin in her hands. Zym had climbed up onto the bed and nestled himself under one of the wings, grumbling happily. Callum decided to ignore that feeling, temporarily filing it under cognitive NOPE.

“I mean… I have nothing to go on, Rayla. Everyone made this sound like it was impossible.”

“Yeah, you seem to treat what other people think is impossible as a polite suggestion rather than a hard fact,” Rayla said dryly.

Dimly, Callum remembered his dream, and was compelled rather urgently to check himself. He pulled off the illusion ring, and sagged with relief as his pinky reappeared. Same skin color, same hands. He reached up and patted his ears and head. Same round ears. Same head, no bumps that could be horns.

The wings remained.

“Oh, your shirt and jacket kinda got ripped up,” Rayla informed him. Callum pouted – the shirt had been made from the same bolt of cloth as the king’s most recent set of clothing, and he felt sentimental about it. Even if he couldn’t salvage the shirt, he’d have to figure out a way to keep it.

He sat there, numbly. He’d gotten himself into a spitting contest with some jerkface, and now he had two entirely new limbs he had to figure out, while also trying to learn magic, and take Zym to the Dragon Queen’s fortress.

What the heck was his life turning into?

Before he could sink further into that mental hole, there was a brisk knock on the door, and he hastily replaced the ring on his hand. The door opened mere seconds earlier, and a bespectacled Sunfire healer entered.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” said the healer with a smile. “Your friend’s concern had Semah wondering if we’d overlooked how serious things were.” They approached the bed. “My name is Keffel, and I’m just going to have a quick look at you to make sure you aren’t concussed from your fall and talk to you about magical overload.”

“Uh, okay,” said Callum, sitting up with some difficulty due to the unfamiliarity and weight of the wings.

Keffel performed several tests with Callum – having him follow their finger side to side, checking the dilation of his pupils, head and neck mobility, and balance. The last one was somewhat difficult, given the weight of the new appendages, but after the numerous movements, the healer nodded and stepped back.

“Well, the good news is you don’t seem to be concussed. Try to refrain from strenuous physical activity today, and if you start to feel woozy or ill, please return. Now,” and here Keffel sat down across from the bed and folded their hands in their laps with concern. “We need to have a talk about magical limits.”

Callum sagged. “Yeah, I know I overdid it.”

Keffel nodded sagely. “I know how it can be – you’re new to school, you want to look cool, and someone challenges you on that so you take them up on the challenge. But there’s a difference between duking it out in a fist fight and playing chicken with a lightning spell, especially if you’re inexperienced with using your arcanum.”

“H-how did you know I was inexperienced with it?” Callum asked.

“You wouldn’t be the first mixed-clan elf I’ve seen that wasn’t sure which source their arcanum connected to.” Keffel peered over the rim of their glasses at the boy. “And really, an experienced Skywing elf knows what pulling his wings out feels like.”

“Yeah, but I’m-“ Callum said, but bit off the ‘human’ part of what he was about to say.

“Mixed-clan, yes, I know,” replied Keffel, nodding. “Again, it’s not too uncommon for someone like you to discover their Source’s powers at a later age. There’s nothing wrong with it, you’re just a late bloomer.”

Thinking quickly, Rayla chimed in. “That’s why you didn’t want to play full moon tag with us a few weeks ago!” she said with false offense. “You said you didn’t feel well, but you just didn’t know if you could use Moonshadow powers!”

“Huh?” said Callum, reacting slowly to the lie. “Oh! Yes, you’ve found me out. I was too embarrassed to tell you.”

Rayla pursed her lips. They really were going to have to work on Callum’s acting.

Keffel laughed lightly. “Well, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’ll just need to meet with an experienced elf to teach you how to fly.” They patted Callum’s shoulder.

“Hey, wait—” Callum called as they turned to leave. “Uh, do you know how to un-summon them?”

“You’d have to ask a Skywing elf to be sure but… it should be something you just know.” The healer bowed. “I must be on to the next patient now, but you are free to go. Get plenty of sleep tonight.” The door closed behind them.

Callum looked to Rayla for help, but she shrugged. “You could try just… turning them off?” she offered, unhelpfully. “That’s what I do with my Moonshadow powers. I just… pop! Turn them off.”

“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be quite as easy as a pop,” replied Callum, doubtful. Still, he couldn’t walk around with the wings out. They felt heavy and awkward and he’d have to get used to them to have them out while walking around in public. Or having them out at all, the whole concept was still freaking him out a little.

His face must have betrayed him because Rayla came and sat next to him on the bed. “Just… calm down and try not to think about them so hard,” she suggested. “Remember to breathe.”

He inhaled, feeling his lungs fill with air. He exhaled, releasing his breath in a slow, steady stream. In, then out. Focus, center, breathe. His mind cleared, he focused on the source of the magic within him, the connection to the Sky. He thought about his understanding of the element, the air moving around him and within him, the electric crackle of a storm, the swirl and spin of clouds and rain. If the Moon was about understanding that appearances are the only truth, then the Sky was about understanding the uplifting freedom of wind beneath a wing.

The muscles were new and unfamiliar, but he flexed the ones nearest his shoulder, and extended the wings to their full span, and then exhaled, drawing them in close to his body. When he opened his eyes, they had been dismissed and his back felt normal again. Callum knew they weren’t gone – in fact, he knew that if he bade them to, they’d reappear again. Still, although the concept of it still greatly disturbed him, he felt somewhat more normal. And very, very tired.

Zym squawked sleepily at the loss of his feathered blanket.

“Well, you both look like you’ll fall over at any second,” commented Rayla, stating the obvious. “Let’s get you back to the inn.”

The three of them trudged back to the inn, and as soon as he was near a bed, Callum collapsed face first into the mattress, too tired to even bother with taking off his boots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keffel is agender, they/them pronouns, for those of you wondering :)


	14. The First Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His ordeal in the hospital over, Callum has his meeting with a magic instructor ahead of him.

Callum awoke an hour or so after sunrise to a weight on his stomach. He lifted his head slightly, and observed that Zym had made himself at home on his belly. Which was fine, as long as the dragonling didn’t start licking him or kneading him.

He laid there a few moments longer, thinking. He had his meeting with a mage at the school today, but his shirt was completely shredded in the back. He also wasn’t looking forward to facing the other students, who probably had a million questions and pity stares. And there was that Tenyo jerk, too.

His stomach rumbled, and Callum figured that was his cue to get up. He sat up, disturbing Zym, but the dragon just rolled onto his back and yawned, sleeping still. Callum smiled faintly – Ez would do that, sometimes. He pushed the wellspring of worry for his brother aside, and trusted that Ezren was handling himself ably. He’d have Aunt Amaya and Opeli and plenty of others to help him. And Viren. Callum scowled at that though, remembering how Viren had stolen his voice, and treated him coldly otherwise. Well, Ez could handle Viren. He hoped, anyway.

He checked his reflection in the mirror, making sure his disguise was in place and not in danger of switching off. Everything seemed okay, so he headed downstairs to the dining area for a meal and to check in on the work schedule to see what kind of assistance he could be of.

After fruit, eggs and a porridge made of some kind of grain, Callum spent a few hours in the kitchens peeling vegetables for the evening meal while Rayla did dishes. She was being quiet and distant, but so was he, so he didn’t pry into her mood too much. He had put her through a lot yesterday.

Around mid-morning, there was a rap on the door of the scullery, and a teen Earthblood elf poked her head into the room. “Caelum? You have a visitor.”

“Oh, uh, I’ll be out in a minu—”

“No need,” said the visitor. Callum scowled the instant he saw that blue face – it was Tenyo. Judging by the Skywing elf’s demeanor, the feeling was mutual.

Rayla looked up sharply from where she was scouring a pot. “You the guy that picked on him?” she said, glowering.

A second Skywing elf entered the room, who looked like a slightly older version of Tenyo. “Take it easy, Moonshadow. My dingus little brother is here to apologize.”

Tenyo shot him a sullen glare. “Do I have to, Tenma? Look, he’s fine, he’s peeling potatoes.”

Tenma stood silently, and folded his arms.

“Ugh, _fine_. I apologize, Caelum, for hurting you yesterday.”

“And?” goaded Tenma.

“And for calling you half-breed.”

“And…?”

“And for being a jerk.” He hunched up and folded his arms. “There, can I go now?”

“Pretty hollow apology, seeing how your brother is forcing you to do it,” snarked Rayla.

Tenma raised an eyebrow, and regarded Rayla. “You have a point. Any suggestions for how he can prove his sincerity?”

Rayla grinned wickedly and glanced sidelong at Callum. “There _is_ the crazy jerkface dance.”

Callum snickered. “Yes, it is a dance of jerkitude and silliness.” Tenyo opened his mouth to protest in indignation, but Callum cut him off “But! I’m feeling generous. Apology accepted.”

“Whatever,” scoffed Tenyo, leaving the room.

Tenma rolled his eyes. “On our family’s behalf, I do apologize. Our mother sent us to deliver this as well.” He handed Callum a package. “To replace what my brother's carelessness destroyed.”

Callum looked to Rayla for help on whether he should accept the gift outright or defer. She nodded slightly, giving him the go ahead, so he accepted the package and bowed slightly. “Thank you.”

On top of the package was a small note that read “For Caelum, from Rella (tailor, Fornis Street)”

It was a shirt and jacket. The tunic was fitted and sleeveless, made from burgundy cloth and edged in silver. It actually looked quite similar to his own tunic, but the details and the fit were of elven design. Additionally, there was a large window cut into the back of the tunic, presumably for wings. The jacket was indigo and tailored as well, with long close-fitting sleeves. The coat came to a tapered point in the back, and there were two cleverly concealed vents that would easily accommodate a pair of wings while also blocking any wind that might sneak inside his jacket and chill him.

Rayla hummed with praise. “That’s nice work, and pretty thoughtful. Normally Skywings go for ponchos and really loose clothes, she must’ve heard about your Moon mom and made something more suitable.”

“I don’t know if I can accept this,” Callum said. “It’s so nice.”

“Eh, he caused your clothes to be unwearable, he has to help you find new ones. It’s how things are done. Nice and even.”

He shrugged at that. Well, if custom dictated that he was supposed to take it, he wasn’t going to say no.

The sun was approaching its zenith, so Callum excused himself from the kitchens to change and head to meet with his instructor.

“I’ll meet you at sunset!” called Rayla as he left the room.

Just before noon, he was outside the door of the Magister Zeru’s study. He shifted a bit – the fabric of his new shirt and jacket was soft and pliable, but the hole in the back felt very strange. He’d get used to it, he supposed, but the edge of the fabric along his shoulder blade was a reminder of yesterday’s mishaps and revelations.

He could, at any time he wanted to, _have wings_. Humans didn’t have wings! They didn’t have an arcanum, either, but that at least wasn’t a physical outward sign that he was different.

Before he could ruminate further, the door of the study opened. The Magister was a middle-aged Skywing elf, probably of an equivalent age to Harrow or Viren, with navy hair combed neatly back from his forehead. His clothing was simple yet finely spun and patterned with a subtle cloud pattern along the hem. But the most striking thing about him were his green eyes.

“You must be Caelum,” said the mage, folding his hands behind his back and smiling warmly. “I am Magister Zeru. Welcome to Alendis. Please, come in.”

Callum nodded and followed him into his office, and seated himself in the plush chair indicated by the Magister. The study was sunny, with high arched windows and a plethora of books. There was a walkway around the upper perimeter of the room, leading to an open window.

Zeru watched the boy observe his surroundings for a brief moment, before seating himself across from Callum in another chair. He crossed one leg over the other at the knee, and folded his hands in his lap. “You are quiet the subject of talk around the academy today,” he commented. “The mixed-clan boy who was forced to remain in human lands for his childhood, and returned only to be goaded into a duel his first day and magically overload.”

“Yeah, I’m… not exactly making a great first impression, am I?” said Callum, rubbing the back of his neck and hunching up in embarrassment.

“That depends on who you’re talking to,” mused Zeru, leaning on the armrest of the chair. “Kaylen in the history department might find your behavior uncouth, for example, but I’m actually quite interested. You bounced back from yesterday’s events quite quickly, for one. And for two, well… I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in your experiences in Katolis.”

Callum blinked. “How did you know it was Katolis?”

“A lucky educated guess. Neolandia, Del Bar and Evenere are too distant to reach with spies, and since you’re here I assumed you came across the Moonstone Path. Duren was my second guess, but you speak more like someone from Katolis.”

“You’re really know your geography.”

“Well, of course. I used to spy on the humans quite regularly, and not knowing the geography of the Pentarchy would have given me away.”

The human sat up in surprise. “You used to spy on the Pentarchy?”

Zeru chuckled. “Oh, it’s been about 15 years since I’ve done so. These days I mostly teach magic and bring Sol Regem news from Alendis. But enough about me!” He stood, and beckoned for Callum to do the same. “Let’s assess what you can already do, and teach you some magic.”

He led Callum to a courtyard, and ran him through a few drills – spells he knew, understanding of the Sky Primal, physical ability, general intelligence tests, and so forth. And then, Zeru stepped back and nodded. “And I understand that you do possess the ability to manifest wings?”

Callum froze. He had hoped no one would make him do this piece of it. “Uh, it’s… really new and uncomfortable. Yesterday was the first time I’d ever done it, and I don’t know how to use them.”

Zeru smiled warmly. “That’s okay. I’m not going to teach you how to fly today, I just want to see how well you can do the manifestation.” He stepped back, and waited with an expectant look.

Callum closed his eyes, and breathed. He centered, and dug within himself to that spark of magic that had formed within him only a few days before. The bright blue little mote of lightning within his soul, the source of his magic. He thought about all the things that it represented, and thought about the feeling of gliding on the air.

There was a warm push of energy beneath his shoulder blades, and a sudden weight at his back. He opened his eyes and looked to the left. The light grey wings were there again. Experimentally, he thought about fanning the left one out a little, and at his bidding, it did so. It still weirded him out, but he felt somewhat giddy at the movement. He had _wings_!

“Well, I must say, Caelum,” said Zeru, nodding with approval. “You show quite the potential to be a very talented mage. It would be my pleasure to tutor you while you remain in Alendis.”

“Really? That’s great!” said Callum, beaming. He put the wings away and grinned. “Can we start now?”

The magister chuckled. “If the day wasn’t already over, yes. But as it is, we shall have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Oh no!” the boy exclaimed, and frantically looked out the window at the setting sun. “Ah, dang it, I said I would meet my friend at sunset.”

“Well, I shall not keep you.” Zeru led Callum back to the front door of his office and held it open for him.

Rayla was seated in the hallway with the backpack. The slight wiggle confirmed that said backpack contained a baby dragon. “There you are,” she said when Callum emerged. “Have fun makin’ the wind blow?”

“I’ll have you know we covered more than just a basic _Aspiro_ spell, thank you.” Callum folded his arms. “Besides, weren’t you supposed to meet me outside?”

“I got impatient.”

“Well, alright. Let’s get back and finish our chores. See you tomorrow, Zeru!” He waved, and turned to walk away with Rayla.

Zeru watched the two teens go, and then turned to reenter his office when he saw a small blue face pop out of the bag that the Moonshadow girl was carrying. His eyes widened in disbelief. It was unmistakably a dragon.

He glanced back to the retreating boy, and squinted. The different clothing and elven traits had thrown him off, but now that he was looking – really looking – he mentally kicked himself for not noticing earlier. Seeing the Moonshadow girl and what was unmistakably a baby storm dragon only clinched it.

Caelum was a human.

Zeru sagged against the wall. Sol Regem wasn’t joking – this Caelum was indeed a very unique human: a human that had learned primal magic.

And he was _teaching_ said human.

It was going to be a long couple of days for Zeru.


	15. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeru confronts Callum with what he knows.

Rayla was oddly silent on the walk back to the inn, but it took Callum a few minutes to notice due to his yammering on about his session with the magister. He did notice, eventually, and leaned in with concern.

“You ok?”

Rayla hesitated for a bit before turning to him. “I heard a rumor that there was a Moonshadow husband and wife that had moved here recently, but seemed particularly elusive and unsocial. I thought…”

She didn’t have to finish her sentence. Callum understood right away that she thought the elves in question might be her parents. “Were they?” he finally asked after a solemn pause.

“I don’t know. I panicked and didn’t check it out.”

“Oh.” They had reached the inn, and he held the door open for her. She entered, and he followed behind her, up the stairs to their room. “Think you’ll try tomorrow?”

Rayla flopped down on her bed and thought about it. “What would I even say? What if they don’t want to see me? I’m not even sure I want to see _them_.” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m not even sure their being alive is a good thing.”

Callum sat next to her while Zym crawled out of the bag and flapped over to Callum’s bed to nest in the covers.

“I know it’s complicated for you and I don’t know what you should do, but…” he sighed and looked up, removing his ring so he could be himself. “I’d give anything to see my parents again.”

“At least they died honorably.”

The two teens sat quietly, each thinking about their respective parental issues and what it meant to them.

Eventually, Callum got up to go sketch in the gardens on his own, leaving Rayla to brood on her own.

Morning came.

“Will you be okay today?” Callum asked as he adjusted the cuffs of his jacket and put on the ring.

“Mmhph,” Rayla grumbled.

Seeing he wasn’t going to get much more out of her, he left and headed to his morning’s tutoring.

When he arrived at the Academy, Zeru was waiting for him at the entrance.

“Caelum, good morning!”

“Hi, Archmagister Zeru!” he said, his mood brightening. “What are we doing out here?”

“Well, I gave it some consideration, and I thought that while we could study boring theory and rote spell memorization, what you need most is practical experience and a better understanding of your arcanum. So we’re going somewhere where I can teach you how to fly.”

“F-fly?” squeaked Callum, fighting down a tide of excitement mingled with the unfamiliarity fears the wings gave him. It hadn’t really even occurred to him that, with wings, he COULD fly. He’d always dreamed of it, but the possibility being this real was giving him serious tummy butterflies.

“No better way to understand the Sky Primal than to actually get up there _in_ the sky. Come,” bade Zeru, walking towards the Northern edge of town. “I know just the place where we will be undisturbed.”

“Great!” said Callum, but then he stopped before following Zeru. “Wait. I want to leave a note for my friend in case she comes looking for me.”

“I’ve already told Alla to let your Moonshadow friend know where we are if she shows up.”

“Oh, okay.” Callum considered this, and then beamed. “I’m ready.”

Zeru smiled, and led him out of town.

They walked for a while, through a fairly dense wooded area, until they reached the edge of a cliff. The cliff overlooked a vast ruin, a forest of stone spires overgrown with vines and barely standing. What stone wasn’t covered in vines was blasted black.

The wind was strong on this cliffside, and Zeru spread his arms, feeling the wind embrace him. Callum watched him for a moment, before mimicking his gesture. The wind WAS strong up here, and the wild whip of the air around him made Callum feel more alive than he ever had.

After a moment to enjoy the wind and the view, Zeru turned to him and gestured to the ruin. “Do you know where we are?”

Callum overlooked the charred stones and shrugged. “Some… burned down city?”

Zeru gave a knowing smile. “This is Elarion, the last of the great human cities before the division.”

At this, Callum’s eyes widened. He recognized that name – Elarion was the human city Sol Regem razed to the ground because of dark magic. It certainly explained the charring.

“Why are we here?” Callum asked tentatively.

“Well, for one, no one will bother us out here. The people of Alendis tend to think these ruins are haunted by the ghosts of evil dark magicians, eager to suck out the souls of wayward young elves. But if you’re going to travel across Xadia, it’s only fair you get to experience YOUR history, too.”

If he had any concept of a record scratch, Callum’s brain would have made the same noise. “Uh, what do you mean, ‘my’ history?”

Patiently, Zeru regarded him with a look that screamed ‘oh, come on,’ before looking over the ruins. “I mentioned yesterday that I sometimes serve as a herald for Sol Regem?”

“Y-yeah…?”

“Well, a few days ago, he bade me to follow an interesting trio of young people – a Moonshadow assassin, a baby dragon, and a human that had somehow earned his blessing to travel through Xadia. Unfortunately, I lost track of them somewhere near Selenvale, so imagine my surprise when the same Moonshadow girl and baby dragon appear outside my office yesterday afternoon! Which then, of course, I had to conclude that the bright young elf I’d spent the day tutoring was, in fact, a bright young human, who, _somehow_ connected to a primal source well enough to sprout wings.”

He glanced sidelong at Callum, who was frozen in shock. “Did I miss anything?”

Callum’s mind spun wildly, trying to keep up. Zeru _knew_? Zeru had been _following them the entire time_?!

“It seems my admission has caught you off guard. Don’t worry, I’m not about to report you to the authorities, seeing as Sol Regem himself gave you his permission to be here. I just want to know how you did it.”

Callum swallowed. “Did… what?”

“Connected to a primal source.”

“Oh.” So Callum told him. About the primal stone, about hatching Zym, about Claudia and dark magic, about his attempts to connect, about Villads, about the red dragon and his dabbling with dark magic, and what he could remember of his vision quest afterwards. Zeru listened with interest, pausing only to ask questions when he needed clarification.

“It’s a shame you’re only in Alendis for a few days,” said Zeru once the story was finally done being told. “There certainly has to be more to it than just sheer willpower, otherwise the humans of Elarion would have never turned to dark magic.” Hand cupped around his chin, Zeru tapped one foot and thought.

“So are the wings real, or are they part of the convincing illusion you’re currently wearing?”

“They’re real,” Callum said.

“Interesting,” said Zeru. “I’ve never heard of a human sprouting wings.” He paused. “May I see?”

“The wings? You saw them yesterday.”

“Well, yes, but I want to see what you really look like, and verify that yes, this human does in fact have wings now.”

Callum glanced around in discomfort. “You sure we’re safe up here?”

“Don’t worry. And look, if you’re worried about showing me, I’ll show you my human disguise when we return to Alendis later.”

That caught Callum off guard. “You have a human disguise?”

“I do!” Zeru chuckled. “Caelum, I used to be a spy in Katolis. Almost blew my mission because I fell for a human, too. So I’d be quite the hypocrite if I judged you for doing the exact same thing I did fifteen years ago.”

“Wait, you fell in love with a human?”

“I’ll tell you all about it. But first, I want to see who you really are.”

Callum relented, and removed his ring. When the disguise fell and he stood before the magister as himself, he gestured outward. “Alright, this is me. Oh, and my name’s actually Callum.”

“A pleasure, Callum.” Zeru circled the boy with interest. “I see Rella made you a new jacket, I assume to replace the one her son inadvertently tore?”

“Yeah. Trust me, no one was more surprised by the wings than I was.”

“Oh, I believe you. Let’s see them.”

It was getting easier to manifest the wings each time he did it. The feathery grey limbs unfolded behind him, and he instinctually drew them in protectively around his shoulders, feeling self-conscious.

“Incredible,” Zeru breathed. He had Callum extend them, and then draw them in as close to his body as he could. The wings obeyed Callum’s thoughts, and he felt very exposed out here, undisguised, with these strange new appendages in full view. It was a challenge not to feel like a freak.

But Zeru was strangely accepting of it all, and after apprising Callum’s control over the wings, manifested his own. “Well, Callum. How would you like to fly?”

Callum blinked. “You’re still going to teach me?”

“Why not? It’s not every day I get to teach a _human_ how to fly.”


	16. Lift Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum goes to flight school, and Zeru tells a story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long chapter, but this is it - this is the moment we've been building towards :3

Callum was overwhelmingly excited. He was going to learn _how to fly_.

Zeru bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment, and then with a large flap of his wings, launched himself into the air. He hovered for a second, and then slowed his descent with his wings spread. “Think you can do that?”

Callum spread the wings wide as Zeru had, and then lifted them and brought them down quickly while jumping at the same time. He didn’t get as high as Zeru had, but there was still a sense of additional _lift_ he got on top of the jump. He landed a little quicker and harder than he might have liked too.

“Good,” remarked Zeru. “Do it again.”

They drilled the simple act of jumping with an assist from wings for a while, practicing the movement and Callum gaining a little more air with each jump. After a bit, Zeru stopped him and nodded with approval.

“The next step is gliding. If you’re constantly flapping, you’re going to get tired quite quickly, so the trick is to learn where the air is moving and harness the wind to keep yourself aloft.” Zeru spread his wings wide, and nodded for Callum to do the same. The brush of the wind through the feathers (_his_ feathers) tickled slightly.

“Do you feel how the wind is currently resisting our wings, spread as they are like this?” queried Zeru.

Callum considered what Zeru asked, and focused on the sensation. It was true. Currently, his wings were acting like a sail, catching the wind and pushing against them with resistance. “Yeah, I do,” he replied after testing it out.

“Now, I want you to lean forward so that the upper edge is what faces the wind.”

The boy leaned forward into the wind, so that his body was almost parallel to the ground, and almost immediately he felt the wind catch underneath his wings and lift him upward. Startled, Callum immediately righted himself and pulled his wings in, dropping about a foot or so to the ground. Zeru laughed.

“I will never get tired of seeing young people learning to fly and freaking out when the wind picks them up.” He wiped an eye. “Nothing personal, you’re hardly the first person I’ve taught to fly that has done that.”

“Ha ha,” replied Callum, his tone flat.

Zeru smiled, and retrieved a rope from his belt pouch. He located a metal ring embedded in the rock, and tied the rope to it before handing the other end to Callum. “Now. What I want you to do is the wing-assisted jump we were practicing before, but instead of landing, I want you to spread your wings wide and lean into the wind.”

“What’s the rope for?” Callum asked.

“So you don’t blow away,” came the reply. “The aim is to stay up there as long as you can. Like a kite!”

Callum nodded, and swallowed hard, before doing as Zeru instructed. He flapped down, hard, lifting himself into the air, and spread his wings wide, tilting his body towards the wind. The gust of air caught beneath him, and he felt the rope go taut in his hands as the wind lifted him skyward.

Instinctively, guided by his arcanum, he rolled forward slightly and allowed the air currents to roll beneath him. He could feel the breeze blowing above and beneath his wings, catching under the feathers and pushing them upwards.

And the emotions that flooded him in that moment send his mind reeling. He was _flying_. He, Callum, was **_flying_**. Well, okay, he was basically a glorified kite right now, but it didn’t change the fact that he was in the air, held aloft, and face forward in the wind, _flying_. He couldn’t help himself, and laughed in elation.

Beneath him, Zeru chuckled too. “Incredible, isn’t it?”

“I never want to come down!” he shouted to his instructor below.

“Start flapping, then, because the wind’s about to slow down.”

As soon as Zeru said it, Callum recognized the subtle shift in the breeze. It was going to slow for a moment, and then pick up in a slightly different direction. He used his wings to push down against the air, once, twice, a third time, the rope slackening in his hands, before the breeze did pick back up again. He angled himself with a hasty flutter of wings, and spun to face the new current, but underestimated the strength of the breeze.

He flapped awkwardly, the stiff gust blowing his left wing inward, and he lost his buoyancy, plummeting suddenly to the ground.

It wasn’t too far of a fall, and there were some bushes to break his fall, but it didn’t prevent him from landing hard on his butt. Callum grunted and rolled up to a sitting position, rubbing his backside and grimacing in pain. It wasn’t serious, but it did sting.

Zeru strode over and offered a hand up, which Callum took gratefully. The mage clapped the boy on his shoulder. “Not bad at all for your first time up. A bit clumsy, and your form could be more streamlined, but you stayed up longer than I expected. Well done.”

“Thanks,” said Callum. “Wish falling hadn’t hurt so much.”

“Think of flying as controlled falling, really. That’s all gliding is.” Zeru tapped his chin, then brightened, getting an idea. He pointed to a nearby building, almost completely ruined save for a small platform, just wide enough for two people. It was too far away to jump, but not too far away to glide to. It wasn’t terribly far off the ground, either – an ideal practice target from the small overlook they stood upon.

“How about this,” proposed Zeru. “I’m going over to that platform with our lunches. If you can make it there before midday, we’ll take a break to eat and I’ll tell you about my misadventures as a young elven spy in Katolis.” He then sprang into the air and flew with ease to the platform, turning an aerial loop before landing neatly.

“You didn’t have to show off,” muttered Callum, before glancing over the edge of the ledge. The ground was covered in springy moss, about 15 feet down. It would not be a fun fall if he got distracted or caught off guard again, but it wouldn’t seriously injure him, either. And there was a rope by the cliff’s edge, too.

Clearly others, maybe even Zeru, had used this area for flight practice before.

His stomach rumbled, and he looked up at the sky. It was getting close to midday. All the exertion was making him hungry, but his lunch was a solid 20 feet away on a platform he wouldn’t be able to reach without flying.

Here went nothing.

He ran to the edge of the cliff, spread his wings, and leaped.

A few hours later, Callum’s feet skidded to the very edge of the platform, but this time he didn’t fall off of it.

It had taken him several attempts to reach the platform. The first few, he didn’t have enough height on his jump, so he’d fallen short. After that, he’d jumped TOO high and overshot the platform. And other times still the wind had suddenly changed, blowing him off course.

All he was doing was jumping and letting the wind do all the work. But it turned out that gliding was a lot harder than it looked.

This time, though, attempt number 54, he’d managed to judge the distance correctly, land on the platform, account for shifts in the wind AND slow his inertia down enough so he stayed put.

He stepped back from the ledge, dismissed his wings and flopped to the ground, exhausted.

“Excellent progress,” commented Zeru. “You are a very fast learner, Callum.”

“My everything hurts,” wheezed Callum. His shoulders in particular were already sore, but he knew that the various bangs and bruises from his 53 falls were gonna hurt too.

“Yes, every Skywing elf, dragon and other flying creature has a story to tell about their first time in the air. Most of them involve falling.”

Zeru handed him an apple, which Callum took hungrily. It was sweet as honey and full of golden juice, almost like a peach but with the crispness of an apple. There was a plate of berries, grapes, cheeses, nuts and flat bread as well, which Zeru indicated was his to eat. Callum did so eagerly, for his workout had made him quite hungry.

“Well, while you’re eating, I believe I promised you a story,” said Zeru, smiling. At Callum’s expectant look, Zeru continued.

“18 years ago, I received an assignment over the border. Selected for my charm, conversation skills and ability to fly away if things got hairy, I was assigned to infiltrate the town of Breachport and get as close as I could to high ranking officers in the Katolian military. They were unspecific, but in my ambition, I wanted to get as high as I possibly could. A general, perhaps! But such things take time, so after receiving my disguise and crossing the border, I traveled north to the Breach and Breachport.

“When I arrived there, I set up shop as a baker, thinking it’d be perfect for drawing the attention and confidence of military personnel. I had spent many months previous to my assignment perfecting bread recipes, as well as pastries. And when I arrived, I also spent several months cultivating a few cloudberry bushes, imported from Xadia. A ‘family heirloom’, or so I told inquisitive people who asked where I had gotten such a thing. And so, with my newly acquired baking skills, bakery and cloudberry bushes, I set about making a treat no soldier could resist – cloudberry jelly tarts.

“It took over a year to pick up any kind of decent business, but I was in for the long haul. I mastered my baking skills, and continued making jelly tarts when I could. Those who bought them, of course, raved about their deliciousness, but few soldiers ever stopped by. And then, finally, almost two years into my mission, I made some progress.

“A young lieutenant came in, looking somewhat panicked. I put on my best customer service smile, and asked him what I could do for him. In a frenzy, he explained that the camp baker had taken ill, and there was no one to make jelly tarts for the general’s birthday. He asked if I could do a rush order and bake two hundred before nightfall. Of course, I said yes, panicked, and then got to work, barely finishing the order in time for delivery.

“Imagine my surprise when, the next morning, the soldier returned and ordered a dozen more jelly tarts. And the next day, and the next. Finally, my bakery had been noticed, and _someone_ in the Breach fortress was enjoying my wares.”

Zeru smiled and pulled out a parcel. “I brought some for you to sample, by the way. Once I realized you weren’t an elf, I figured you might appreciate something familiar.”

Callum eagerly took one of the familiar tarts. “These are made with cloudberries?”

“Of course.”

He took a bite, and they were indeed delicious. He could see why the pastries were popular at the Breach. A tiny bit too sweet for his liking, but Ez would have _loved_ them.

Zeru continued. “After many weeks of selling tarts to the lieutenant, to the point they were on the counter waiting for him every morning, my benefactor herself came in.” He sighed. “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

At this, Zeru gave a bitter laugh. “She wanted to meet the baker in person, and congratulate me on my exceptional jelly tarts. We made light conversation, and soon she began showing up in person more and more often. I knew she was someone high-ranking, so I always made sure to turn on the charm whenever she was around, telling myself that if I got closer to her I could more easily learn important secrets. But… I let my heart get in the way of my head and found myself falling for her. 

“It must have been mutual, because one day she leaned across the counter and kissed me out of nowhere. I was quite surprised, but soon we began seeing each other romantically. I loved her, deeply, and worried more and more that one day she would find out who I really was, especially when we…” He glanced over at Callum, who was paying close attention but didn’t seem to notice that he was skirting into some rather adult territory. “Ahem. Anyway, just before Midwinter fifteen years ago, she demanded that I marry her. I wasn't ready for marriage at all, and when faced with the choice of living a perpetual lie or breaking her heart then and there… I panicked and told her the entire truth. About who I was, why I was there, and how none of that mattered because of how I felt.

“Feelings and intentions weren’t good enough, however. I had lied to her about everything, and she wanted nothing to do with me.” He sighed, the old wounds still evidently painful. “I’m lucky she didn’t kill me, a hated enemy, on the spot.” He looked at Callum with a rueful smile. “I’m lucky Old Sunshine didn’t kill me, either, once he learned about _why_ my mission had failed. Naturally, it ended my espionage days, but because she was the General of the Standing Batallion and I _had_ gathered useful information, I was granted my life.”

Callum blinked, then frowned. “Okay, I know you weren't referring to General Amaya.”

“Amaya? Heavens no, she isn’t even interested in men.” Zeru leaned back against a stone. “No, 15 years ago the General of the Standing Batallion was her elder sister, Sarai.”

Callum choked on his jelly tart, coughing violently for a few seconds before looking up in shock. “You almost _married_ my **_MOM_?!**”

It was Zeru’s turn to be shocked, and he froze in terror. “Sarai is your **_mother_?!” **He dragged his hands down his face in horror. “Oh, I’m an idiot. Callum. _PRINCE_ Callum.” He looked at the prince in alarm. “I… why don’t you look more like King Harrow?!”

“King Harrow’s my step dad! I was born before she married him!”

Zeru looked stricken. “I’m… glad she was able to move on after I betrayed her.” He paused, wide-eyed with panic. “Are you _sure_ Sarai was your mother?”

Offended, shocked and still processing this news, Callum gestured with a wide shrug. “Uh, yeah, I think I know who my own mom is!”

And then, several puzzle pieces clicked into place in Callum’s mind. He knew with certainty who his mother was, but... his father? And his mother had stepped down from whatever post she had – General, apparently! - to join the Crownguard when she was pregnant with him. That’s where she had met Harrow. He’d been born after that in the summer, almost fifteen years ago.

Fifteen years ago, just before Midwinter, she’d almost married Zeru.

As Callum did the math, the realization hit him like a bucket of ice dumped down his back. The blood drained from his face in horror.

He stood. “I need to go.” He walked to the edge of the platform and looked down, trying to find the particularly soft bush he’d landed in a few times already.

“Callum, wait, I didn’t mean to upset you,” protested Zeru, standing.

But it was too late. Callum had found his landing spot, and jumped off the platform. He needed to get away and get some space before the panic attack started in earnest.

Zeru stood there dumbly for a moment, debating internally whether or not he should run after Callum. But he too was paralyzed by the shock, and deeply saddened. Sarai had found love without him, apparently twice, and he’d never really moved on at all. He slumped down, at a loss and trying to decide whether or not he should pursue Callum. Responsibility won out over self-pity, however, and he took to the skies to locate Callum and hopefully beat him to the cliffside and the path back to town.

But Callum wasn’t running back to town. He had run the opposite direction – deep into the ruins of Elarion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several of you guessed it. Give yourselves cookies.


	17. Lineage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum tells Rayla what he learned from Zeru.

As fortune would have it, Rayla had chosen noon as a good time to reconvene with Callum. After being informed by Alla that Zeru had taken Callum to the old spooky cursed ruins, Rayla followed their path and was arriving just as Zeru returned to the cliffside.

She squinted in suspicion. “Where’s Callum?” she demanded.

The mage’s shoulders sagged upon seeing her. “He ran off. I had hoped he would head this direction.”

“Ran off?” she thought about it, then scowled. “What happened?”

Zeru told her about the morning’s flight lessons, and how he’d spilled the beans about his time in Katolis. “And, to my surprise, it turns out the woman I had been waxing poetic about was his mother!”

Rayla almost dropped the backpack containing Zym. “You dated his _mum_?!”

He gestured outward in a half-shrug. “I had no idea, I assure you. I knew she had two sons and was Queen before her untimely death, but I thought her eldest son was King Harrow’s child as well! And then he ran off without saying anything else.”

Rayla pinched the bridge of her nose and shouldered Zym’s backpack up onto her back. “Ugh. Alright, I’ll find him.”

“I can help search-!” But Rayla shot him an icy glare.

“He won’t want to talk to you. Let me figure out what's going through his head, and you head back to town.” Without another word, she leaped off the cliff and expertly darted through the underbrush.

Zym peeked out of the backpack at all the jostling. “Callum’s being an idiot again,” she replied to the dragon’s inquisitive chirp.

She stopped and knelt down by some broken twigs. A trail of snapped twigs and trodden moss led her to the center of the ruins, to a silent and moss-covered courtyard. The remains of a stained-glass window (depicting what looked to be the feet of a Startouch elf) cast dappled multi-colored shadows across the area. And there, seated on a decrepit fountain, was Callum. His face was buried in his arms.

She made her way to him silently, and sat down beside him. “So… do you always run away into haunted ruins when you’re upset?”

He jumped with surprise at the sound of her voice, and hastily rubbed his face on his sleeve. Great, he’d been crying. “Rayla!” he said, voice thick, before he cleared his throat, trying to look composed. “Uh. Did you find your parents?”

She leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out. “Nah. Turns out the folks in question weren’t my parents. They’re still missing in traitorous action.” She frowned at her choice of words and shook her head. “So, nothing new with me. You?”

Callum leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and his chin on his arms. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“_Great_ Moonshadow avoidance tactic, but seeing as you aren’t currently disguised…” she cajoled. When he said nothing and turned away, she gave an exaggerated sigh and stood. “Alright then, if you want to sulk because your magic teacher once dated your mum, have fun hanging out with the dark magic ghosts.” She stood and began to walk away.

Callum spoke before she could get much further. “He’s my dad.”

Rayla paused mid step and spun around. “What?”

The prince wiped his face again and turned to look at her. “Zeru. I’m pretty sure he’s my birth father.”

Well, that was an… interesting… conclusion to reach. Rayla blinked. “O…kay, mind filling me in on how you landed on a crazy theory like that?”

Obviously flustered, Callum explained while gesticulating frantically. “The timeline adds up. He and my mom were dating up until about 15 years ago. Then mom moved to the castle and started working for the Crownguard, where she met Harrow.” He threw up his hands. “I’m almost 15, Rayla! Zeru said Mom dumped him just before Midwinter, which was six months before I was born. she was going to _marry_ him before he told her he was an elf. So clearly, he's my dad.”

He trailed off and leaned back into his knees.

Rayla sat down beside him and leaned forward, hugging her knees and peering at him with concern. “You know, Zeru could be exaggerating or embellishing, if he’s not outright lying. He _was_ spying on us, I don’t know if we should trust him.”

Callum shook his head. “It’s not just his story. Rayla, I sprouted _wings_ two days ago. Wings that I can pull out and use any time I want. _Humans_ don’t do that. But hey, turns out if my birth father’s a _Skywing elf_…”

“Whoa, hold on.” Rayla held up her hands, in a ‘slow down’ gesture. What Callum was saying made sense, yes, but… “If your mum’s human and your dad’s maybe an elf, that would make you-“

“A half-elf?” Callum said flatly, not looking at her.

Her words faltered in her throat. The idea of a half-elf even existing was scrambling her brain a little. It was one thing to be mixed-clan, that was common and happening more and more frequently as the various clans mingled. But the differences between elves and humans were more than just elemental and cultural.

Her silence must have betrayed her. Callum hunched forward like he’d been kicked. “That bad, huh?”

“Callum, no, I…”

“You what, Rayla? Can’t stand the idea of a half-elf existing? Think I’m some kind of freak of nature?” He balled up his fists and screwed them against his eyes, fighting back another wave of tears. “How do you think _I_ feel?”

“I don't think you're a freak!” she shouted, perhaps a little forcefully, her own emotions rising like a tide. “And I don't hate you, even if you are a... a half-elf. I just… if you’re right about Zeru, you have to understand that half-elves have _never_ been well-received in Xadia. Not even before the division.”

“Great,” said Callum, weakly.

“BUT,” she said, emphatically, to cut him off. “Whether you’re human or half human or whatever you are, you’re still _Callum_, and the Callum I know is determined, brave, _annoyingly _stubborn, and not the kind of person to let not being entirely human stop him.”

He was quiet for a moment, resting his head on his knees in thought. Finally, he mumbled “You still freaked out.”

“What, and _you_ aren’t freaked out, even a little?” she protested. “There hasn't been a half-elf in over a thousand years, so it’s kind of a big deal if you are. And it’s not like humans would be completely accepting either.”

Callum considered her words, and frowned. “Yeah, I doubt many humans would be okay with this, either.”

The two of them sat in thought for some time, brooding quietly and turning this new information over in their heads. Half-elves hadn’t been heard of in more than a thousand years. Even before the division of Xadia, they were somewhat of a taboo. And yet, the more Callum thought about it, the more it made _sense_. Part of him had hoped it was just that he was that good at magic, but between how easy and right Sky magic felt, and the wings, the truth was staring him in the face. Except…

“Wait. If I’m a half-elf, how come I look totally human?”

Rayla frowned and considered this. “Don’t suppose you have some secret hidden amulet on you, do you?”

“I… don’t think so.” He rubbed his chin, and reached for the backpack. Helpfully, Zym chose that exact moment to pop out, the cube key in his mouth. Of course, the rune for Sky was glowing brightly.

Callum took the cube from Zym and held it out to Rayla.

“I don’t want to touch it, it’s covered in dragon drool.”

“No, no, we can use this to look for hidden amulets. See?” He held the key above himself, illuminating the Sky rune, and then above Rayla, illuminating the Moon rune. He then pulled the ring out of the pocket he’d stashed it in, and held it up to the Moon rune, causing it to glow faintly. “If there’s an illusion on me, it’ll be Moon magic, right?”

Rayla brightened. “Yeah, that’s right!” She gingerly accepted the cube, and wiped it in some nearby moss, before holding it to Callum and scanning him with it.

Nothing lit up but Sky. No illusions here.

At this conclusion, Callum sagged back down.

Rayla sighed. “Look, let’s just head back to town. Brooding in the ruins all day sounds really boring and like a good way to just end up feeling worse.”

After a moment, Callum relented, and stood. “Alright, yeah. Let’s head back.”

As they headed back, Zym gamboled behind them in curiosity and confusion. When he was in the backpack, the cube was glowing purple, and Callum didn’t notice when Zym was helpful and gave it to him. He told himself he’d help good and give the cube to Callum sooner if he ever saw the purple pointy shapes light up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alas, I knew it was only a matter of time before this fic was an AU. OH WELL, that's what happens when you write fan seasons before the seasons air.
> 
> I'm so dang hype for November 22nd though guys you can't imagine (WE'RE GETTING AN EPISODE ABOUT CALLUM'S BIO DAD WOO I mean why would we learn stuff about Callum's dad when Callum is in Xadia HMMMMM)
> 
> Gonna try to finish this before the end of the month so that we can all be hype for the real season 3 togetherrrrrrr
> 
> (updated the tags to reflect some of the recent story developments. Sorry if you're new and got spoiled by the tags!)


	18. Paternity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to tell Zeru he's a father.

It was mid-afternoon when the trio returned to the inn, and Callum threw himself into chores to keep his mind off of the meltdown he was slowly having. He opted to do things that wouldn’t require him to look at his hands or in too many reflective surfaces, because where the elven disguise had been thrilling and exciting only yesterday, now the missing fifth finger or curving horns were giving him an identity crisis.

As he swept the floors and changed sheets, he told himself that he was being silly. Zeru being his dad was only a theory. A very probable theory, but still only a theory. After all, Zeru never said they were serious. Maybe his mom DID have a fling with a random stranger, and that’s who his birth father was! Just some random human guy in Breachport, who probably didn’t know he’d sired a prince of Katolis.

Callum paused. Zeru probably didn’t know, either. If Callum ever accidentally fathered a half-elf, he’d want to know about it. The image of a baby with white hair, green eyes, horns and five fingers flickered through his mind and he felt his neck getting hot.

Nope, that thought was getting swept away with all the dust, dirt and leaves tracked into the inn.

He was pushing the last pile out the door when a courier arrived. She retrieved a small letter from her bag and held it up, reading the name. “I’m looking for a Callum?” she queried, looking at him.

“That’s me,” he replied, leaning on the broom.

She held the letter out. “It’s from the Magister. Have a nice day!” She dashed off to her next delivery.

Inscribed on the folded paper, in elegant looping script, was his name. He contemplated the letter as he trudged back inside, stowed the broom in the broom closet, and headed upstairs to his shared room with Rayla and Zym.

He _could_ just toss it into the fire without reading it.

He _also_ could read it.

“That from Zeru?” Rayla asked when she entered a few minutes later, holding an armful of freshly laundered sheets.

Callum grunted noncommittally. So, yes, basically, Rayla interpreted.

“You could just not read it,” she said, dumping the laundry onto the bed. “But if it were me, I’d read it.”

“Why?” the boy asked with a puzzled glare.

“He clearly cares about you. And if he really is your dad, well…” her shoulders sagged. “Must be nice having parents that want you.”

Immediately, Callum rushed to her side. “Rayla, I’m so sorry. I’m being a huge jerkface to you, aren’t I?”

She held up her hands, pushing him away slighty. “No, you’re not being a jerk to me, it’s just. I’ve looked high and low for any news about my parents these last few days. No one knows what happened to _any_ of the Dragon Guard.” She hunched inward and sat down. “And a lot of people either don’t care, or think they deserve whatever fate they got, for letting the Dragon King die.”

Callum sat next to her, placing a hand between her shoulders to comfort her. “Well, they suck. The other people!” he added, realizing what it sounded like he was saying. “Not your parents.”

“My parents kinda suck, too.”

“Well, sucky or not ,they’re your parents and you obviously care about them. I’m sure they’re out there, and we’ll find them.” Callum sat back onto his hands and chewed his lip, thinking. “Okay, fine, I’ll read Zeru’s letter and see what he wants.”

The parchment was stiff and white and covered in a neat looping scrawl. Rayla read over his shoulder.

_“To Callum,_

_I apologize for our conversation earlier. It was never my intent to hurt you with the tale of my past, and had I known that it would be a sensitive subject I never would have offered to tell it in the first place. I understand that I must seem a horrible cad to you for lying to your mother all those years ago. Sarai was truly an amazing woman, and did not deserve my betrayal. Neither did you. _

_The door to my office is still open for the remainder of school hours today, as well as for lessons tomorrow, but I understand completely if you wish to find another instructor. You are a bright young man, and the spark of magical potential within you is great. It would be my privilege to teach you further, but regardless of what you choose, I wish you the best in your travels and your mission._

_Give my regards to Miss Rayla, as she was able to talk sense into me earlier. _

_In (hopefully) friendship,_

_Zeru”_

Callum sighed, a long, drawn-out exhale of exasperation. “I have to tell him.”

“You don’t _have_ to tell him,” said Rayla. “I think you should, but no one is making you.”

“No, he has no idea and he deserves to know.” Callum flopped backwards bonelessly in a fit of annoyance, letting his arms dangle behind him while he groaned, before standing upright once more. “Will you come with me?”

“I don’t know, it sounds like a big awkward party. I don’t really feel like an awkward party.”

“Please? For emotional support?” He grinned, hoping it was a winning smile.

In response, Rayla gave him a flat, annoyed look, before rolling her eyes and standing. “Fine.”

They soon found themselves in front of Zeru’s office.

“Okay, here goes.” Callum exhaled, and lifted his hand to knock on the door.

He barely made it through the third rap when the door was flung open. Zeru stood there, slightly disheveled, but not nearly as untidy as his office, which looked like it had been ransacked. “You got my note,” he breathed, sounding relieved.

“What happened in there?” asked Rayla, peering around the mage into the disaster of a mess behind him.

Zeru ushered them inside and closed the door. “I, er, got nostalgic for… well. You know. And when I couldn’t find my mementos from that time right away, I got a little carried away trying to find them.”

“What were you looking for?” Callum asked, looking at him askance. Zeru held out his hand, showing a small silver hoop earring, from which dangled a tiny white stone.

“I was looking for this, as well as my journals from the time. I, ah, there were some drawings I wanted to look at.”

Rayla and Callum exchanged glances, the same thought running through their head. Callum knew he didn’t get his artistic talent from his mom, which meant it came from whoever his dad was. Maybe. Potentially.

“Um, Zeru?” Callum asked, hesitating. “Is that what you used to disguise yourself in Katolis?”

“Yes?”

Inhale in, inhale out. Callum was bracing himself. “Uh, this morning you promised to show it to me. Can… I take you up on that now?”

Zeru frowned, not sure where this was leading, but obliged the boy anyway. The magic was old and required the incantation to be recast – _dissimulato hominum_ – but once it was in place and the flash of white illusion magic faded, a middle-aged human man stood in Zeru’s place.

He was the same height and build as Zeru – slight, but confident in the square of his shoulders. He had brown hair, cut short and slicked back, and he was nicely dressed. It was clearly Zeru in a human guise, but the one thing that didn’t change color were his eyes, which remained a vivid green.

He glanced first as his reflection in a nearby mirror, and then looked to the two teens for their approval.

Rayla and Callum, for their part, stood agog, before Callum removed his own disguise and stood before Zeru, turning towards the mirror.

Side by side, the resemblance was undeniable. Callum was shorter and younger, his hair was messier, and his face bore a stronger resemblance to his mother, but standing next to Zeru in his human guise, the truth was obvious.

Zeru was Callum’s father.

Silently, hands shaking, Zeru removed the earring containing his disguise, and crouched down to look Callum dead in the eye. “How old are you?” he asked, his voice faltering.

“I turn fifteen in two months,” replied Callum, meeting his gaze.

Zeru stood and walked to his desk, leaning on the sturdy wooden frame. “She asked me to marry her before Midwinter.” He swallowed. “She would have already been pregnant with you when she—When I--”

“Look,” Callum said, trying to maintain patience while also dealing with his own flood of emotions. “This is why I ran off earlier. I spent my whole life thinking that my dad died before I was born, no one would tell me anything about him, and then I find out you were dating my mom right up until six months before I was born and I just.” He balled his fists and looked down. “I panicked.”

The older elf had walked around his desk to slump down in his chair, frozen with shock. “Understandable,” he mumbled. He ran a hand through his hair, then down the side of his face. “I have a son?” he asked weakly, to no one in particular.

In the back of the room, Rayla sat on a bench and pulled Zym onto her lap. “Yaaaaay Awkward Party,” she grumbled to Zym. He grunted in solidarity.

“Anyway,” said Callum, slowly, as he began to back towards the door. “I, uh, thought you would want to know. I’m gonna go now.”

“Wait,” said Zeru, looking up sharply and half-standing. Callum froze in place, and Zeru’s expression softened. He didn’t really have any family to speak of, and with the sudden revelation that he had a son by the woman he loved enough to sacrifice his mission and career, and that said son was a bright, principled young man with magical talent to spare, Zeru found he wanted more than anything to be a father.   
  
Provided Callum would let him, that is. “Please stay,” he said quietly.

“I…” Callum’s hands twisted around each other, and he glanced to Rayla for reassurance, before returning his gaze to Zeru. He stared at the elven man, who seemed lonely and sad, but his own emotions were churning too hard to offer himself up for whatever Zeru needed from him. “I’m sorry. I need a little time to process this myself.”

Zeru looked down and nodded solemnly. “Of course. I understand.”

“But… I can come back tomorrow?”

Perhaps, when he looked up, Zeru seemed too eager, but he was grateful for the olive branch. He smiled softly. “Tomorrow, then.”

As Callum and Rayla left with the Dragon Prince, Zeru slumped down into his chair, rocked to his core by the day’s events. He had a _son_. A son that was undeniably his, and Sarai - human General and Queen of Katolis Sarai - was his mother. A son with magical talent unlike any he’d seen, and a sharp memory - from what he’d heard from Ferin, Callum’s true talent laid within his eidetic memory. Zeru felt confused, and overwhelmed, and proud and very afraid.

Sarai was human. That meant Callum was half-human. Half-elven. 

Well, at least it confirmed his research into humans and primal magic.

But why did Callum seem entirely human, even to Sol Regem's keen nose?

The mage frowned, and tapped a pencil on the desk, before standing and turning back to his ransacked shelves of books. If Callum was returning in the morning, Zeru had work to do.


	19. Wanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla have a lot to mentally process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short one before we get into the heavier stuff!
> 
> Also hey, if you like my story maybe think about following me on Tumblr! I'm @dreadbeasts over there too :v

When they returned to the inn, Callum didn’t even bother with the bed. He flopped straight to the floor, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

Rayla joined him, while Zym made himself a nest at the foot of Callum’s bed.

The two of them laid there in silence, staring at the beams of the ceiling, until Rayla broke the silence.

“So Zeru’s definitely your dad.”

“Yup,” replied Callum, voice hollow due to the shock of the truth.

“Which means you’re definitely a half-elf.”

“Looks like it.”

The silence lingered a minute longer. Rayla certainly had her own thoughts about this news regarding Callum. His being a half-elf made her feelings so, SO much more complicated. For one, half-elves were kind of considered a monstrosity. After all, what self-respecting elf would debase themselves with a magicless, smooth-skulled human? Not like she was judging, of course, because she had privately considered debasing herself with a smooth-skulled human a lot over the last few days, and Zeru clearly didn’t have an issue with it, either. She wondered how many elves out there were more flexible in their thinking when it came to humans?

Then, of course, was the fact that Callum being a half-elf meant that he was half _elf_, ie, not such a terrible match for an elf such as herself. There was some compatibility after all, right? Or would her uncles view relations with a half-human as even worse than a full-blooded human? And never mind that, anyway, Callum’s dad was an _elf_. Callum, very, very human-y Callum who really liked pastries and had weird names for constellations, had elven blood flowing through his veins, and it was an incredibly weird concept to her. His disguise had already weirded her out and made her heart beat funny (what _was_ it about the ears and horns that made him so much more confusingly attractive to her?), but that was easy to dismiss as just an illusion.

Romantic crisis aside, she was worried about him, too. He was being uncharacteristically quiet.

“You okay?” Rayla asked.

Callum didn’t answer right away. The tides of his own crisis were rising and falling like waves on the shore, and it took him a moment to put together a response.

After all, his entire identity had been thrown into question.

All his life, King Harrow had held himself at arm’s length out of respect for his birth father. Did Harrow know? He always made it seem like it was out of respect for whoever his ‘real’ dad was, like he didn’t want to replace the man that had sired him. But if his mom had told Harrow who his dad was, did Harrow hold him at arm’s length because he wasn’t fully human?

Did anyone besides his mom know? Aunt Amaya? Viren? He doubted Soren and Claudia knew, and it chilled him to wonder what they might think. Neither was a huge fan of elves, after all. He wasn’t sure he could bear their looks of fear and distrust.

What would Ezren think? He was open-minded and seemed to look past racial differences with ease, but now that he was King of Katolis, would he have to hold his brother at arm’s length because it would look bad to their allies? If Amaya didn’t know, what would she think? He knew his aunt hated elves. What would she think if she knew her sister unwittingly… did things with one? Or if she did know, was Zeru why she hated elves so much? What would she think about Callum knowing?

What about Viren? Callum’s hand drifted to his throat, remembering the night he left the castle and how Viren had been so cold and ruthless with him, stealing his voice and calling him names. _Mongrel_, Callum recalled. If anyone knew, he concluded, it was probably Viren. Those kinds of names weren’t ones you threw at the Queen’s son lightly.

And speaking of queens, what would the Dragon Queen think?! Here he was, acting ambassador for King Ezren, and surprise, he’s something that the Xadians considered taboo and disgusting. If not for Zym’s presence, Sol Regem would have eaten him on sight. Would the Dragon Queen be so charitable for the return of her son? Or would she view a half-human misfit – an accident, a mistake made by a woman who trusted someone she shouldn’t have – as a monster?

Did... Rayla think he was a monster? He remembered her face when he told her his suspicions about Zeru. She had been disgusted, recoiling from him. Now that it was certain Zeru was his father, was she horrified by him?

“Callum, you’re being way too quiet,” she cajoled, snapping him out of his spiral of self-loathing.

“Am I a monster?” he blurted.

Rayla’s lip curled in confused offense. “Uh, no,” she bit back. “The only people who are monsters are the ones who hurt people for personal gain, on purpose.” She rolled onto her stomach to look at him. “You’re just a confused dork who’s having an existential crisis.”

“There’s _nobody_ like me, Rayla. There’s not just some club of half-elves out there I can walk up to and say ‘hi, my name’s Callum!’” He pantomimed the introductions of the club. “‘Hi, Callum!’ I’m… not supposed to exist.”

“For someone who isn’t supposed to exist, you’re pretty exist-y.”

“You know what I mean, Rayla.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but fueling your bad feelings doesn’t seem like a good way to help.”

Callum rolled over and sat up, glaring at her. “If you think I’m gross because half-elves are gross, at least have the respect to tell me to my face,” he accused. She met his accusations with an eye roll.

“I _would_ tell you to your face if that’s what I thought, but I don’t, so stop asking. If _you_ think half-elves are gross, though, have the courage to admit it to yourself.”

His hands shook, and he dropped his head into them, stifling a sob. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about who knew. And about what Ezren, or the Dragon Queen, or _you_ think.”

Rayla sat up as well, and leaned backwards onto her hands, looking up at the ceiling. “Well, if what you told me about King Harrow is true, it sounds like he cared about you regardless of whether or not he knew. Ez is open-minded and he loves you, so he’ll probably be fine with it. The Dragon Queen will likely be so happy to see Zym that she won’t care if you have twenty fingers, five eyes and two heads. And me, well… you’re still the same Callum you were this morning, right?”

“I… think so?”

“Then I still think you’re alright.” She smiled. “Think of it like this – despite everything, your mum wanted you. She knew, one hundred percent, who your dad is, and she still chose to have you. Despite the fact that it could have hurt her career, despite that she might have been tried for treason, despite the fact that Zeru hurt her. She thought you were worth it. She _wanted_ you to be her son.”

Callum sighed. Rayla had a point. And he recognized through his own pain that she was expressing a hurt of her own. But by this point, he was too overwhelmed, too exhausted, too spent to do much else about it.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed.”

Rayla nodded. “I need to eat and so does Zym, so I’m heading downstairs to get some food. If I see any bread, I’ll grab ya some, okay?”

Callum mumbled his assent as he crawled into bed. He was sore, and tired, and very upset. Today had been a long, long day, and he had promised Zeru he’d return in the morning.

He drifted off, dreaming of flying and falling.


	20. Sins of the Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to some lunar magic, everyone finds out exactly how Callum's elven ancestry was kept a secret.

Callum slept fitfully that night, his mind a swirl of dreams and anxieties. When dawn finally came, he got out of bed with some gratitude. He was dreading what this day held, but he had to get through it anyway. He still hadn’t really learned any _magic_, and if nothing else he wanted a spell book to study or one decent lesson from Zeru.

His dad.

Callum kicked that thought away abruptly. Zeru might be his birth father, there was no denying that, but Zeru would never be his _dad_. Harrow was the man who raised him, Harrow was the one who cared about him, Harrow had been the one to comfort him when his mom died. No matter how he felt about Zeru, he would never replace Harrow and that was final. _Harrow_ was his dad.

He and Rayla ate breakfast in silence, with Rayla sneaking bits of fish under the table for Zym. Finally, Callum broke the silence.

“What do I do if he wants to dad at me?” he asked.

Rayla looked up and frowned. “Nothing? You don’t have to do anything with him you don’t want to do. Besides, you’re a teenager, it’s not like he’s gonna want to go play catch with you.”

Callum looked up at her, quizzically. “Elves play catch?”

She shrugged. “It's just throwing a ball back and forth. Not like humans own the concept.”

Callum nodded and idly chased a grape around his plate with his spoon. “Probably for the best. I’m terrible at catch.” A few more laps of grape-around-the-plate later, Callum stood and took his dish to the bussing window, and returned to Rayla. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Rayla raised an eyebrow at him, chewing her breakfast. “’Let’s’?”

He shuffled. “If… that’s okay? For emotional support?”

He was lucky she had a big raging crush on him, because she was finding it harder and harder to resist that hopeful smile. But, she managed to give him her best annoyed frown, and stood, shouldering Zym in the backpack. “Fine. But you owe me.”

“Absolutely,” he said, placing one hand on his heart. “I, Callum, owe you, Rayla, one favor.”

“Okay, fine, you don’t need to be formal about it.” She smiled lightly, though, and stood. “Glad to see you’re feeling less mopey.”

“Oh, I still have plenty of mope,” he said as she brushed past him. “I just don’t want to mope right now.”

“If you say so.”

They walked through the town as the morning began, discussing where to go next. Callum did have much more he wanted to learn from the mages in Alendis, but they had agreed on 3 days, and it was their third day. Rayla wanted to leave once the day’s lessons were finished. Despite some convincing arguments from Callum about sleeping well in nice beds and being tired at the end of the day, though, she won out. And eventually, they arrived at the front steps of the Academy once more.

Callum inhaled slowly, calming himself and bracing for whatever that day would hold, and then strode forward towards Zeru’s office.

The magister was in the hallway already, conversing with another instructor, a Moonshadow elf. She passed a pale orb to Zeru, a lunar primal stone, and said something to Zeru with a stern expression. He nodded, and then turned to see Callum and Rayla coming up the hallway. He looked like he hadn’t slept well either, but he brightened when he saw the teens approaching.

The other mage scowled at the kids as she passed them. When she’d turned a corner and walked out of earshot, Rayla turned to Zeru and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “What’s her problem?”

“She's annoyed I won't tell her why I need the stone and spells she showed me. Do come in.” Zeru ushered them in, and closed and locked the door behind him. “I advise letting Prince Azymondias out of that bag, I’m sure he’d like a chance to stretch his wings freely.”

At the sound of his name, Zym popped out of the bag and climbed out, stretching like a cat and shaking out his mane. He spotted a sunny perch along the walkway near the ceiling, and with a few clumsy flaps, flew up to rest in the sunshine while the elves and human did whatever it was they were going to do. After all, he was still a baby, and babies need sleep.

“He’s getting a lot better at flying,” Callum mused, removing his disguise.

“Yeah, I’ve been taking him into the forest to let him practice,” said Rayla. “Definitely going to be your turn over the next few days, especially since you can get up there with him.”

Callum grimaced, and at that Zeru interjected.

“Callum, I do hope that yesterday’s, ah, revelations won’t prevent you from continuing your studies of magic or mastering flight.”

“No, no, I definitely want to learn magic,” Callum protested. “It’s just… the wings are going to take getting used to. Until a few days ago, I didn’t think I could even _have_ wings.”

Zeru nodded. “That’s something I actually wanted to discuss with you.” He paused, and took a breath, steeling himself. “Before I even met you, I had been researching historical cases of humans developing an arcanum. My research turned up nothing on pure-blooded humans doing so, but plenty on half-elves. Before we begin today’s lesson, if you don’t mind, may I share some of what I’ve learned?”

Callum glanced over to Rayla, who raised a sympathetic eyebrow. He turned towards Zeru and nodded his assent, bidding the elf to continue.

“In my research,” he began, “I discovered that half-elves are very diverse in their appearance, taking any assortment of traits from their parents. Some seem completely human save for hair colors that aren’t commonly found among humans. Some look almost completely like the elven parent, excepting five fingers. You get humans with four fingers, elves without horns, more even blends with one horn or nine fingers… it’s quite the grab bag and what tribe the elven parent is from seemingly has no bearing on how the human and elven blood mix.

“What seems to be constant, though, is that the child inherits the elven parent’s inherent connection to the Primal Sources, and that physiologically there is SOME evidence of the mixed blood. That you could pass for an ordinary human undetected by even Sol Regem suggests to me that there might have been some… arcane tampering at some point in your life.”

Callum recoiled at this notion. “You think someone used magic on me to make me seem completely human?”

“It’s only a theory,” said Zeru. “But, if you’re willing, we can check. And I only ask because you said that using dark magic brought you to death’s door. If it was indeed dark magic that was used to suppress any elven traits you carry – and let’s be honest, Katolis is known for its dark mages – that suppression could cause you further harm.”

“I don’t know…” Callum said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You _were_ saying last night that it bothered you not knowing who knew,” Rayla reminded him. “This could be a way to find out.”

“You can always take it back, too, and I won’t press any further,” added Zeru.

Callum sighed. “Okay. If we can just get it over with and I can start learning new spells, fine.”

Zeru nodded, and shooed Rayla off to one side, ushering Callum to stand in a cleared-out space in front of him. He then held up the Moon primal stone, peered at some notes he’d hastily scrawled on his arm, and drew a somewhat messy rune at eye level with Callum.

“Ah, forgive me if this doesn't go off perfectly, I'm not very experienced with moon magic.” At Callum’s worried glance, he smiled. “Don’t worry, this is just a simple reading spell, it won't hurt you.”

He cleared his throat, and pushed the rune forward into the flesh between Callum’s eyebrows. “_Ante magicae_,” he breathed, and the rune pulsated white before the whispers of previous spells began rolling off of Callum.

“_Sanitatum Somnum_,” in Keffel’s voice.

“_Fulminis!”_ in Tenyo’s.

“_Nwod meht gard psarg gnidnib!” _in Claudia’s.

“_Eciov eht laets” _in Viren’s. Callum shuddered and swallowed, and Zeru withdrew his hand from Callum’s forehead, a look of questioning concern on his face. Rayla, too, stepped to Callum’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Viren… used that to steal my voice. The night we…" He glanced to Rayla, and looked down. "...you know. I only got it back because the assassins arrived almost immediately after, and Viren dropped the thing holding onto it in the fray.” He shivered. “It was like death stuck its arm down my throat.”

“We can stop if this is difficult for you,” Zeru said gently.

“No. If… if Viren was willing to do _that_ to me, I need to know what else he might have done.”

“Very well.” Once again, Zeru placed his finger on the glowing rune, and the whispered spells resumed.

_Aspiro_, from Claudia. A number of different dark magic healing spells, in a variety of voices Callum recognized as Claudia, Viren and a smattering of other mages he’d seen here and there. And then, one final spell.

“_Snis srehtaf eht laecnoc, erutan srehtom sih laever.” _It was Viren’s voice.

Silence dropped over the room, and Callum hung his head. “Viren did it.”

When Zeru looked to Rayla, she explained. “The high mage. He's the one who kidnapped the dragon prince.”

“I see.”

“Is there a way to find out more?” asked Callum. “I… I need to know.”

Sympathetically, Zeru nodded. “I asked Lumelle to give me the incantation for a spell that would help, in case this came up.” He studied his notes further, and drew the rune in the air, pulling the wisps of magic from the previous rune cast on Callum.

“_Historia viventem.”_

The rune glowed pale in the air, and blew away by an unseen breeze. A few seconds later, ghostly white figures appeared in the room, made from moonlight and stardust. The room was overlaid with a similar ethereal glow, reflecting not Zeru’s office, but a room Callum recognized as the room he and his mother lived in before she married Harrow. He’d spent many days in that room after her death, sobbing into the carpets, and knew it well.

In the room was the figure of his mother, heavily pregnant, seated on the bed and cradling her belly with worry. A flicker of emotion crossed Zeru’s face at the sight of her, but if he had anything to say he kept it to himself.

Standing on the other side of the room, behind a small table, was the shade of a much younger Viren. He was mixing something with a mortar and pestle, and shooting the odd, worried glance at Sarai.

The door to the room opened, and in strode a young Harrow, crownless and arrayed in his armor, panting as though he was slightly out of breath. “I rode from the Breach as quickly as I could,” he gasped, attempting to compose himself.

“Prince Harrow, that’s a two-day ride,” protested Sarai. “You haven’t even been gone five days.”

“Time _is_ of the essence, Captain,” said Viren, his tone clipped and too professional. “If your child is born before we complete this, there won’t be much I, or anyone in the Pentarchy, can do.” He set down his pestle and turned to Harrow. “Were you able to retrieve the... final ingredient?”

Grimly, Harrow set the object he had been carrying on the table in front of Viren. The magician unwrapped the item, and held it aloft to inspect it.

It was a broken horn.

Sarai gasped in horror, as did Zeru, Callum and Rayla in the present.

“Harrow!” Sarai chided, angry. “How dare you—”

“Before you lose your temper, Captain,” said Harrow, his tone measured but carrying an undercurrent of restrained anger, the voice of a royal commanding his armies. “General Amaya promises it broke off in a fight. It’s owner tried to headbutt her, and met the business end of her shield instead, breaking it off. The elf fled before Amaya could finish her. Then she had a number of things to say her interpreter was unwilling to translate for me, but she seemed angry.”

“Understandable. She almost bit my head off, and then I had to keep her from storming into Xadia and killing Dan with her bare hands when she found out, so I doubt she’s feeling charitable.”

(_“Dan?” Callum asked Zeru._

_“It was the human-est sounding name I could think of.”_)

Sarai then folded her arms defiantly. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

Harrow’s scowl softened, and he knelt beside her. “Sarai, we’re trying to help you and your son. Father knows nothing of this, he believes your transfer to the castle is because you want somewhere safer than the Breach to raise a child.”

“I _do_ want somewhere safer to raise my child.”

“And he will never be safe if people think his mother is a traitor!” When Sarai opened her mouth to argue, Harrow continued before she could. “I know you were deceived, and the mages at the Breach have been working on a magic detection system to prevent further incidents like yours. I certainly don’t blame you, and I don’t think Father would either if he knew. But Father has enemies, people who would gladly see him deposed. If your son comes out with pointed ears and horns, it will cause a scandal, and no matter what we tell people of the events, the rumors will paint you as treasonous, or worse. All the blame will fall on your head.”

“So long as the angry mob lets you keep it attached to your neck, that is,” mused Viren, busying himself with the arduous task of grating the horn into powder.

“_Thank you_, Viren,” said Harrow with an icy glare, before turning back to Sarai. “As long as your child looks anything other than human, both your lives are at risk, for something neither of you asked for or intended.” He breathed in, and then out. “It’s for the best.”

Sarai wrapped her arms around her belly, thinking. The thoughts racing through her mind were readable on her face – agreement with Harrow’s logic, fear for her unborn son, and protection. She looked over to Viren. “You’re positive this won’t hurt him?”

Viren grunted, working quite hard to get enough of the grated horn prepared for the next step. “Yes,” he finally answered, wiping his brow on his sleeve. “The idea isn’t to eradicate something that’s a part of him – that might kill him. But the aim is to suppress it deep inside him so it never manifests. From what I’ve read, half-elves gain their more elven traits from the presence of the spark of magic they inherent from the elven parent. I won’t bore you with the details of the ingredient list, but this,” and here he waggled the partially grated horn, “is the key component. A Moonshadow elf’s horn carries some of the inherent magic of the Moon, so it should seal everything inhuman about your son behind an outer appearance of humanity, and prevent any inhuman traits from manifesting.”

“How long will it last?” asked Harrow.

“Oh, it should last his entire life,” Viren said, pleased with himself. “Provided he stays away from magic, of course. Primal magic, especially Sky magic, will start to awaken the other side of him. He should absolutely be kept away from dark magic, too – it’s…. intense, the first time one casts it, and the experience could shatter the magic holding this spell together. He could even develop an arcanum! And if that happens, well… it’s only a matter of time at that point.” Viren chuckled. “Best just to keep him away from magic altogether.”

Harrow nodded, and turned to Sarai. “Does that sound acceptable to you?”

Sarai smiled half-heartedly. “Guess he’s taking after his mom whether he likes it or not.”

“You still have reservations,” Harrow said. It wasn’t a question.

“Of course I do,” Sarai replied. “I’m… terrified. I’m not ready to be a mom, especially not when there’s no dad in the picture. I want my baby to have the world, but… with this spell, there’s always going to be a part of him that he feels is missing. I don’t want him to be unhappy.”

“I’ll do my best to help you and Callum through it,” Harrow said warmly, gazing at her with a soft expression.

Sarai jumped. “Oh! He’s kicking!” She guided Harrow’s hand to her belly, and he laughed in happy surprise.

“Ugh,” interjected Viren. “If you’re done flirting, I have important spellcasting to do?”

Harrow and Sarai turned away from each other, staring shyly in opposite directions.

Viren finished grating the horn, and sprinkled a fistful of the powder into a chalice. He added wine, the ingredients from the mortar, and stirred. As the liquid swirled, he chanted “_Snis srehtaf eht laecnoc, erutan srehtom eht laever.” _Blueish smoke, flecked with motes of silver, spilled over the lip of the cup.

He then held up the chalice and brought it to Sarai. “Drink this, and no one will ever know your son is anything other than human.”

With one final nervous glance to Harrow, then to her swollen belly, then to the smoking chalice, she considered her actions. Then, with decisive swiftness, she tipped the contents of the cup down her throat.

The white mist faded, leaving the two elves and one human (half-human) standing in the harsh mid-morning light of the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's saturday! Have some FEELINGS!


	21. The Storm in the Ruins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes take in what they've just learned, but only have a little time before a new disaster strikes.

With a soft thump, Callum sat down in the nearest chair. Rayla and Zeru silently found their own seats, and the three of them sat for a minute in shocked silence.

For Zeru, his emotions warred within him. Sorrow that Sarai had moved on so quickly, anguish at seeing those moments of fatherhood and love shared with someone that was not him, fear that he’d have to watch his back for Amaya if he ever tried to involve himself further in Callum’s life, and anger that dark magic had been used to suppress a natural part of his son’s biology, the part that came from him.

For Rayla, the usage of dark magic on Callum sickened her. He hadn’t even been born yet, and the adults in his life had decided to magically change him ‘for the best.’ Rationally, she understood the need to protect Callum and hide a very major scandal, but she’d only been on the road with Callum for about three weeks, but in that time she’d watched him blossom from an awkward nerd who didn’t believe in himself to an awkward nerd who did, kinda. She knew how important, how _right_ magic had felt to him, and had fought so hard to connect to it, all because the dark magic cast by Viren had been like trapping a bird in sunless box. How dare they?

(She shoved the feelings of excitement that Callum might grow horns or elsewise down somewhere deep, deep into her psyche. Bad Rayla, she chided herself, no being excited over your best friend’s identity crisis.)

And for Callum, he was a tumult of confused feelings. It was nice to hear that Harrow and Amaya knew and still were protective of him. His initial anxiety from the night before had ebbed somewhat, and he could rationally look at how they treated him, how they protected him and loved him and accepted him as part of their family, and reconcile that with the vision he’d just seen. His family had wanted him, and had only turned to Viren for his and his mother’s safety.

But Viren’s… casualness towards it all, towards manipulating his life and appearance while he was still in utero, towards grating up some elf’s _horn_ for this, well. If he didn’t dislike Viren already, he definitely didn’t like him now.

Viren’s warning, too, had caused his blood to run cold. Magic had always been a part of him, it turned out, and it was his experience dabbling with dark magic that had shattered the underpinnings of Viren’s spell. He had developed an arcanum, and according to the scene he’d just witnessed, it was only a matter of time before he stopped being fully human. What would he look like, at the end of it? The wings had been shock enough, but what else lay in store? How could he return home to Ez and Katolis if he turned blue or grew horns? And what would Soren and Claudia think? What would Ezren’s _court_ – Opeli, the advisors, Amaya, Gren, Corvus, the people of Katolis -think?

He loudly exhaled. “This… is a lot to take in.”

“Sure is.”

“Indeed.” Zeru pursed his lips before looking at Callum. “If you need some more time to process everything, Callum—”

The boy cut him off. “No, Rayla and I agreed we’d leave Alendis this evening. We have to get Zym home eventually, so we can’t stay in Alendis any longer. If I’m going to learn more magic from you it has to be today.” He rubbed his face. “Just… give me a minute.”

“Of course,” said Zeru, walking to a counter in the corner of his office and fetching himself a glass of water. “Take your time.”

He glanced to Zeru (_your father,_ his brain told him before he did his best to deny it). In his human disguise, Zeru had looked so much like him it was shocking. True, his facial features looked more like his mom’s, but if the magic that kept him looking human was going to undo itself, then Zeru was his best bet for figuring it out. Callum forced himself to look – really look – at the elf teaching him magic.

He was about the same height as Soren – plus several inches for the horns, which were thin, light grey and jutted out from his head almost vertically, curving in towards the center. He was a pale blue, his hands and shoulders bearing white-blue markings. His hair was a dark navy blue, and he bore, of course, the trademark pointed ears and four digits per hand that all elves did.

Callum looked down at his own hands, five fingers each, and hoped he’d at least keep all his fingers. He ran a hand through his hair (no horns still, to his relief) and took a breath before looking up to Zeru.

Before he could state his readiness, however, the door burst open. “Magister Zeru! You’re needed at once!” shouted the intruder, an older teenaged Sunfire elf, breathless from running. Rayla yanked the undisguised Callum behind a shelf, and he hastily put his ring back on.

“I’m busy with a student, Ketrin, can you not bother one of the other Mages?” Zeru had composed himself remarkably quickly, putting on the air of confidence and superiority with ease.

“All the other Sky mages are out towards the south, practicing flight maneuvers with the Skywing students,” came another voice, a mature one that spoke in clipped tones. “It’s you or the destruction of the town, Zeru.”

The speaker was an older elven woman, an Earthblood elf in green and gold finery. She shooed the Sunfire student out.

“Archmage Teriza, I apologize,” said Zeru, with a bow.

“I understand you went to the ruins north of town yesterday with a special needs student?”

“Yes, Archmage. After the previous day’s incident, I thought it best to practice with young Caelum in a more secluded spot.”

“And did you notice anything strange while there?”

“I—no, nothing more than usual. Just crumbling old ruins blackened by dragonfire.”

“Hmm. Well, a mysterious whirlwind has appeared out of nowhere within of the ruins. It seems to be a form of Star magic, but good luck finding a Star mage on this kind of short notice. We need a skilled Sky mage to handle it, and to handle it quickly before it becomes destructive.” She turned to go. “So we’re clear, it’s not a request. Take your student, he might find the experience valuable.”

Rayla and Callum exchanged glances.

“Do you think…?” Callum said slowly.

“It’s definitely where were yesterday,” said Rayla, hand going to her swords. “You were too busy brooding to notice, but there was half a window depicting a Startouch elf.”

Zeru inhaled sharply. “A remnant of art in Elarion depicting a _Startouch Elf_?” He rushed to the window and stared to the North. Indeed, a menacing purple tornado was building slowly in size. The mage hissed a swear between his teeth, and dashed to a closet to retrieve a slender dark grey staff mounted with a blue gem. “Rayla, show me where this is. Callum, you stay here with Azymondias and keep him safe.”

“What? No! Your boss told you to take me with you.”

“Callum, I appreciate your courage but this is _dangerous_. Wild magic, especially wild _star_ magic can be incredibly unsafe, and considering its source I won’t risk your life or the life of the dragon prince.”

“But I can help!” Callum protested, rushing to his backpack and pulling out the cube. It shone sky blue in his hand. “Look, this can detect any kind of magic – if there’s something that’s activated it, I can find it and help you deactivate it. And you can teach me on the fly. We can leave Zym here and lock your office door, he’ll be fine.”

Antsy and beginning to panic, Zeru glanced at the baby dragon, at Callum, and at the brewing storm over the ruins, and grit his teeth. “Alright, fine. We don’t have time to argue.”

The three of them ran with haste towards the ruins of Elarion.

By the time they reached the ruined city’s edge, the wind had intensified in strength, gusting hard and making it difficult to push forward into the gale. “We won’t be able to fly in this!” shouted Zeru, using his staff to anchor himself in the ground. “What does your cube say about this magic?”

Callum held the cube aloft, and the starlight symbol glowed its pale purple. Zeru swore again.

“What’s so terrible about Star magic?” yelled Rayla. “I thought it was just for telling the future and stuff!”

“That’s part of it,” explained Zeru over the howling winds. “But Star magic can also have effects the other sources! We need to counter this wind.” He thought for a second.

“Alright Callum, lesson 1! _Aspiro_ is only the root wind spell. There are many others, but we’re going to use one of the strongest! When I cast it, I need the two of you to run ahead as far as you can and throw me the rope so I can join you. We’ll have to switch off casting, Callum, so that neither of us tires before we even reach the center.”

Rayla and Callum nodded, and stood ready. Zeru nodded as well, and drew a curling blue rune in the air before him. “_Aspiro ventus fortis!” _he cried, inhaling as much as his lungs would allow, and blowing forward into the wind. A massive torrent of wind spilled forth from the rune, countering the maelstrom before them and stilling the wind enough to make travel forward easy. Rayla and Callum bolted forward to a tree they could hang on to, and threw the rope to Zeru, who, his breath spent, struggled forward on the rope against the punishing gale.

Bit by bit, they staggered forward towards the spot Callum had ran the day before, Callum and Zeru taking turns casting the wind spell so that neither wore out before the real battle began.


	22. Maelstrom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a magic storm brewing in the center of Elarion's ruins. How will they stop it?

The courtyard glowed with an eerie purple light as, from the fountain at the center, wild star magic shot forth into the heart of the whirlwind. They were unable to get closer, however, as the strength of the wind was all but threatening to carry them away. The cube in Callum’s hand was blazing with purple, the star symbol lit brightly and the other five runes – particularly the Sky rune – flickering sporadically.

The three of them huddled behind a large pillar to gain a windbreak and to determine what to do. Rayla peered around the pillar, and returned, hair tangled around her horns by the wind.

“There seemed to be something lodged in the fountain that was glowing,” said Rayla. “If you two can slow the wind down enough, I can pull it out. That might stop it.”

“This is more than something a simple _dispersit_ will fix, Rayla,” said Zeru. “Even Avizandum himself would have difficulty stopping a tornado like this.”

Callum stood, thinking. “Maybe we don’t have to disperse it. Maybe we can just un-spin it.” He gestured with his index finger, twirling it vertically to mime a tornado.

Zeru and Rayla looked at him in confusion. “You can’t just unspin a tornado, Callum,” said Rayla dryly.

“Maybe you can!” Callum retorted. “Ez and I used to play this game in the baths – we’d fill one of the circular tubs, and then chase each other around it so it made a whirlpool. And then we’d stop and go the other direction, which would cause the whirlpool to stop, or even reverse. So if we can just make the wind go the other direction—”

“That would stop the whirlwind,” finished Zeru. He began mentally calculating the air speed and direction, planning their next move. He picked up a stick and drew a complex rune in the dirt.

“That looks like the tornado rune,” said Callum.

“Yes, with the modifier for spinning counter-clockwise,” replied Zeru. “The spell is ‘_vortex turbinis, movere ad sinistram.”_ Zeru pointed to the right. “Send one that direction, while I maneuver over to that wall on the other side and cast another. As soon as your first one runs out, cast another, and keep casting until the wind is slowed enough.” Callum nodded, and Zeru turned to Rayla. “As soon as the wind is slow enough for you to get to the fountain, kick the object you spotted away from the fountain. Do NOT touch it with your bare hands.”

“Why?” asked the Moonshadow elf.

“Star magic is excellent at dispelling and absorbing magic. It might hurt you.”

“Got it. No touching.”

Zeru sank into a runner’s pose, poised to move. “Callum, are you ready?”

The prince nodded, and cast the spell. A small tornado, minuscule compared to the brewing storm they were standing in, spun to life and danced away from them. Meanwhile, Zeru brought forth his wings and allowed the wind to whip him clockwise to the far wall. As soon as he was there, he stabbed his staff into the ground and held on, casting tornado after tornado with his free hand. Callum did his best to keep up, straining to keep up the pace. He could feel the tension of overloading his arcanum happen again, but he was determined to prove himself. He could do this.

The wind began to slow.

A few more tornadoes, and it was finally calmed enough that Rayla could bolt to the center of the courtyard. The object she had spied was a thin bent rod of metal, jutting out of the fountain. Her gaze trailed upwards, and from the looks of it the rod had fallen from the window above. Part of the lead that held the panes of glass together. Enchanted lead in the middle of a spooky dark magic ruin that also had some Startouch elf involved? Zeru didn’t need to tell her twice not to touch _that_.

She kicked at it, and it refused to budge. She tried knocking it loose with her swords, but it still remained fixed in the stones. She kicked harder, stomping it sideways, grunting in frustration as it moved only slightly.

As the two mages caught their breath, the wind began to pick up in speed again. Caught off guard and off-balance from the kicking, the twister started to push Rayla forward. She screamed as she scrambled to plunge her blades into the stone and missed, and began spiraling upwards.

“Rayla!” screamed Callum. Without thinking, he snapped his wings out and lunged forward, pushing himself into the gale towards her. He caught her hand as she flew by, and they careened dizzyingly through the air until his free hand caught something. But Callum didn’t even need to look at what he’d caught before he knew.

He was holding on to the lead rod.

Immediately, he could feel all his remaining magical energy draining from him and into the rod. It made his skull tingle unpleasantly, and felt like something slimy crawling out of his soul and down his hand into the rod. His disguise flickered as well, his pinkies reappearing first as the rod sucked all the magic from the ring. There was a burning sensation at the top of his head, and a headache bloomed rather rapidly, but he held on for dear life.

There was a sudden shift as the rod began to dislodge. Over the scream of the wind Callum was vaguely aware that Zeru was shouting something, but he couldn’t tell what. The mage was plastered against the wall helplessly anyway.

Rayla had felt the shift, too. Straining against the wind, she climbed up Callum’s arm and hooked a leg around his waist for security, before grabbing his wrist with both her hands.

They heaved together, once, twice, thrice, before the rod came free and the two of them went spinning in the air as the whirlwind vanished with a pop.

Cartwheeling through the air, Rayla screeched and buried her face in Callum’s neck, hanging on to him for dear life. He flapped his wings frantically, trying to right himself and slow their fall enough to land without breaking anything. He was only partially successful, and they landed heavily in some bushes, with Callum taking most of Rayla’s weight as well as his own.

They lay there motionless for a heartbeat, until Callum groaned. “Rayla, you’re crushing my ribs.”

She sat up in haste and scrambled off of him. “Sorry,” she said, blushing a faint purple and turning away so Callum wouldn’t see.

Callum laid their a while a longer. No wonder Zeru had said not to touch the rod – he felt _awful_, as though he’d been wrung out like a wet rag. His whole body ached, he was definitely going to have some gnarly bruises from the fall – at least nothing seemed broken - and he had a throbbing headache. He held up his hands to his face, and saw the ring sitting on his pinkie, the white stone faded to a dull grey, a massive crack running down its center. “So much for my disguise,” he mused sadly. He sat up, groaning as he did and rubbing his face.

When he looked up, Rayla was staring at him wide-eyed.

His eyebrows lowered into a slight frown. “What?” he asked, trying to figure out what her gape was about.

“Uh, you got… um.” Unable to say what she meant, she simply gestured upwards from her head with her pointer fingers.

Callum scowled in confusion for a split second, before the mimed gesture clicked. Aghast, he slowly reached up to his head and met with something hard. He closed a hand around it – it was about the width of two fingers, smooth and bone-like, and about a hand’s length long. He felt down the length of it for confirmation of his suspicion, and his fears were realized when his fingers met his scalp. Slowly, he brought his other hand up to find the second one.

Horns. The rod had done more than just break his ring – it had broken every spell that had been cast on him.

Including the one that kept him human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dithered for a long time about whether or not to include his ~TRUE FORM~ and then y'all said you wanted to see it so thanks for indulging my fascination with transformation :D


	23. Free as the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The magic's been undone - Callum has completely transformed into the half-elf he was supposed to be. How do Rayla, Zym and Zeru react?

The lead rod had done it’s work. Every spell cast on Callum, including the first one designed to keep him looking human, had been undone. Agog, horrified, he met Rayla’s stare. Her eyes flicked quickly over the rest of him, and she swallowed.

“H-how bad is it?” Callum asked, voice shaking.

“You don’t look that different?” she said quietly.

“Rayla, I have _horns_.” He paused, reality catching up with him. “Oh my gosh, I have** _horns_**,” he said quietly, to himself.

“I mean, you could’ve turned blue,” she said, her sarcastic streak returning as she picked one of Callum’s dove-grey feathers out of her hair (and stashed it in her pocket). “You look mostly the same. But, um.” Gingerly, she reached over and poked him in the ear, before withdrawing her hand.

Callum’s hands flew to his ears, and to his dismay they did now bear a point to the tip. They weren’t much longer, at least not as far as he could tell without a mirror, but there was a definite point to them now when previously they had been round.

He sagged. “Well now I can’t pass for normal _anywhere_.” He flopped back into the grass, and winced as the horns smacked against a branch on the way down. They throbbed painfully. Great, now he had to worry about ensuring there was more clearance above his head – that _hurt_.

He sat back up and dusted the dirt and twigs out of his hair – a challenge, as the new horns impeded his progress and he kept bumping them.

Rayla observed all this with sympathetic and mildly horrified fascination. It was one thing when it was all a disguise, but this, apparently, was _real_. Before, when he looked totally human, it was easy to push aside the reality of his elven lineage, but now everyone could see it. It did not help her confusing crush one bit that he looked _good_ with horns.

“Callum!” Zeru was calling for them, shouting in different directions as he tried to locate them. “Rayla!”

“We’re over here!” Rayla stood and waved towards the sound of Zeru’s voice. He spotted her, and flew over to them. His wings were grey, too, Rayla observed.

Zeru landed neatly beside her. “Where’s Callum?”

“Over here,” said the prince flatly, waving from his seated spot on the ground. The mope was back in full swing, and Callum was having himself a good sit-and-sulk.

If Zeru was surprised by the transformation, his expression didn’t give it away. Instead, he sat down beside Callum and laid back on the grass, carefully positioning his head so his horns didn’t get in the way. He watched the clouds drift by, patiently waiting for Callum to speak first.

Finally, he did. “I touched the rod,” Callum said.

“I saw. Saved Rayla’s life and likely the town of Alendis, as well.” He paused. “Are you hurt?”

Callum glared down at him. “Aside from having zero chance of ever passing for normal in a human OR an elven city, no.”

“You can always wear a hat in human cities,” Rayla suggested with a shrug, sitting down on the other side of him. “Or gloves, if we’re going into an elven one.”

“Great, Rayla, and I’m sure the court is going to be totally fine with it when the King’s brother never takes his hat off at the dinner table.”

“Not my fault human manners are weird,” retorted Rayla.

Callum rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. “I didn’t even get to learn any new magic today.”

“Then allow me to teach you one more lesson - on theory, this time,” said Zeru, patting the grass beside him. Callum frowned, but gingerly laid down on his back, making sure to mind his horns as he did. Zeru pointed up at the sky and the billowing wisps of clouds above them. “Tell me what you think it would be like to be a cloud.”

“Really?” snarked Callum with a scowl.

“Indulge me,” replied Zeru airily, turning to smile at him.

The boy sighed, and returned his gaze to the heavens. The clouds were like wisps of white painted across a blue canvas – cirrus clouds, he remembered reading somewhere. They rolled gently across the sky, unfurling like rolls of fine silk against the vivid blue dome, like dancers wrapped in gauzy veils that trailed behind them.

What would it like to be a cloud? Clouds didn’t have anything to do, they just… were. Up there, high in the sky, unfettered and untouched by worries of war or anxiety or the fears that their friends and loved ones would turn on them. Clouds didn’t have to concern themselves with the daily goings on of the people walking below. They were just clouds.

“It’d be… freeing.” Callum spoke quietly. “They have nothing else to do but exist.”

Zeru hummed in agreement. “The true essence of the Sky primal is that freedom. The wind goes where it wants, the clouds shape themselves however they like, and the thunder speaks when it chooses to. We mages do not control the storm, we simply ride it, letting it flow around us like air flows around our wings.”

He sat up and looked down at the young prince. “Of course, humans and elves are not clouds. We have rules, laws and societies, people and traditions we can’t disobey without consequences. But rules and laws and traditions can grow stale over time. Sometimes, a wind from a new direction can blow away the miasma of stagnant ideas.”

Zeru looked at Callum, then Rayla, a thoughtful look on his face, before returning his gaze to the sky. “It seems to me that the winds of change have been blowing for a few weeks now.”

“So here’s your final lesson from me, Callum – no Sky Mage can reach his full potential unless he feels he is completely free. Free of the cages others have tried to put him in, free of the rules and laws he believes are wrong, free of the histories and conflicts and strife that would threaten to drag him down, and free to master his own fate.”

Callum sat silently before muttering, “Destiny is a book you write yourself.”

“Yes, exactly,” was Zeru’s happy reply. “I know that these last couple of days have been quite shocking to you, especially now. But consider – with the dark magic cast upon you undone, there is absolutely nothing holding you back from your full potential.”

Callum sat quietly for a minute, the stood, turning to Rayla. “Guess we better go back into town and get Zym so we can keep heading for Castra Draconis.”

His hands stuffed into his pockets for security, Callum, Rayla and Zeru headed back to Alendis.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they arrived. Zym greeted them happily, annoyed at being left behind if the scratch marks on the door were any indication. He scrambled into Rayla’s arms for scritches, and then sniffed hesitatingly at Callum before deciding that this new version of his sorta-kinda big brother was alright.

Callum put the cube back into his backpack, and tucked it under some bottles of berry juice Rayla had acquired somewhere. When he looked up, Rayla and Zeru were whispering to each other, and nodded before Rayla turned to Callum.

“So… I had an idea, and if you don’t like it then we don’t have to but it might help you blend in a little better as we travel,” she explained. “Remember when I mentioned Spirit Bark?”

“The… stuff you use to make the designs on your faces?”

Rayla beamed and nodded. “Turns out, Zeru has some. Aaaaand since the designs we use are usually clan-based and kinda-sorta family-based…”

“You guys think I should let you paint me up so I look more like an elf.”

“Only if you want to!” said Zeru, hastily. “I can understand why that might be a bit of a sensitive area for you, but it would keep guards and otherwise from scrutinizing you too closely. It only lasts a few weeks… and Skywing elves _can_ have hair and skin your color – it’s not common, but not cause for alarm.”

“And these markings, they’re… family based?”

“If you’re uncomfortable with that I can just do a simple pattern one might find on a young Skywing mage.”

“But if it was family based, that’d be like, uh…”

“Yes. It would be identifying you as a member of my family.”

Callum rubbed the back of his neck. “Are you okay with that?”

“Over the last three days, I’ve gotten to know a brilliant young man who is an exceptionally gifted artist and a natural at magic. He’s brave, loyal, kind and selfless. I would be proud to call you my son, Callum. That is, if _you’re_ okay with that.”

When Callum hesitated, he added, “I have no intention of replacing King Harrow as your father. I can tell he meant a lot to you, and I have no desire to take that away from you. I’m glad he was there for you when I wasn’t. But, if you don’t mind having a second, back-up dad…”

Callum breathed, in and out. If he was being honest with himself, the half-elf stuff was secondary to the shock of finding his birth father, someone he believed to be dead, in the first place. He had fantasized about finding his “real” dad for so long, and Harrow had distanced himself from Callum in order not to assume a role he didn’t believe was rightfully his, so Callum wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. In the end, Harrow and Callum both claimed the father-son bond they had shared and yearned for. But now that Harrow was gone, and a back-up dad (his birth father, even!) was offering himself up for the role, well… he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want it.

And okay, it helped that Zeru was a mage, and all-in-all pretty cool.

They could take it slow, but for now, after everything he’d been through in the last few days, the idea of a back-up dad didn’t sound too shabby.

He sat down across from Zeru, who was watching him closely. “Okay. But I’m terrible at catch, so please don’t ask me to play it.”

Zeru laughed, caught off guard, before he leaned in. “I’ll tell you a secret – I’m terrible at it, too. Besides, you’re… what, 15? Almost 15? If I’m doing dad things, I _should_ be giving you the talk.”

The boy blanched. “Nope! Nope, no, I’m good, already had it, thanks!” Callum said, gesturing frantically and turning red.

Another chuckle from Zeru, and he turned to his desk to begin mixing the bark into a paste. “Good, because I think we’ve had enough awkward moments for the week.”

Callum exhaled, and Rayla chuckled behind him. Maybe it was because his mind was suddenly on The Talk About Sandwiches, but the sound of her laughter sent a tingle up his spine. Her laugh was… really cute. He glanced over to her, and she smiled, causing his neck and ears to flush with warmth.

Great, now that his ears stuck out from his hair, she could probably see them turning red. This, of course, only caused them to flush even warmer. He cleared his throat. “So, uh, Rayla! What do your markings mean?”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “They mean that I’m an assassin in training,” she said proudly, but then her face fell a little. “Dunno if they’re right for me anymore. After the mission in Katolis I’d have been allowed to personalize ‘em a little, but.”

“Okay, Callum,” interrupted Zeru, having finished preparing the paste. “You’ll need to remove your shirt for this, and it’ll take a few hours to dry, but it’s ready.”

Callum glanced shyly at Rayla, who blushed and turned away as he shrugged off his new jacket and tunic and sat back down. Zeru handed him a few sketches of the pattern – a chevron pointed down the back between the shoulder blades, a stripe that traveled from the point of the chevron up the spine to the base of the neck, and then two stripes that split off from the larger back stripe and curled up the neck and across the jaw, ending in points near the outside corner of the eye. There were also two diamond shapes beneath each shoulder blade. Zeru explained that the diamonds and chevron would actually show up on the wings when those were summoned forth, and that the chevron, stripe and diamonds were the markings for a mage in training, but the stripes up the side of the face were from his family. And indeed, Zeru had twin stripes up the sides of his face as well.

As Zeru worked, and the bark paste dried on Callum’s skin, the three of them chatted. Zeru and Rayla regaled Callum with stories of Xadia, legends and myths and local folklore. Of course, their versions of things differed, being from different clans, but the stories were enjoyable all the same. In turn, he told them stories from the human lands.

As the sun set, the three of them laughed and joked, but eventually, the paste dried, and it was time to leave.

“Before we go, can I ask a favor, Zeru?” asked Callum.

“Of course.”

Callum held out a folded piece of paper. “Can… can you take this letter to Aunt Amaya?”

Zeru blanched. “Your aunt who wants to kill me.”

“I mean… she’s the only person alive who knows about you and me that I trust.” He held out a folded piece of parchment. “I included stuff in it that only I would know, so she knows it’s really from me. I just… I need her to explain to Ez what’s going on. I can’t risk telling him through a letter, someone else might find out.”

Zeru rubbed his face. “No, you’re right, it is important. I just hope she lets me talk before she starts punching me.”

“You could sign to her.” Callum demonstrated, signing ‘Callum says hi,’ for him. “Names in sign language are unique to the person, so she’ll know I taught you the sign for my name.”

Zeru copied the gestures, and repeated them to help jog his memory of the handful of signs he'd learned all those years ago. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do. I have something for you as well.” He pulled out a book on sky magic from his desk, with notes on theory and a catalog of several spells. “This should teach you what I wasn’t able to in such a short time. Study it well, practice your flying, and don’t forget to spend some time each morning just… breathing.”

Callum accepted it gratefully. “I’m glad I met you.”

“As am I.”

With the bag packed, Callum dressed once more (with instructions to scrub the dried paste off in the morning) and Zym perched on Rayla’s shoulder, the three kids stood before Zeru.

“Take care,” he bade them solemnly. “May your success be swift.”

“You too,” said Callum, with one final look of farewell over his shoulder.

The three of them left the academy in the last rays of the dying light of day, and headed east.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... throughout this fic I've held the line firmly that Harrow is Callum's *real* dad. Maybe his genes didn't make the kid, but he raised him, he was there for him, he loved him, he died to protect him, he gets the 'dad' title. It really burns my biscuits when fiction tries to paint the biological parent as the REAAAAAAL parent - blood means nothing, your parents are the people who showed up. 
> 
> Without getting too far into it, this is a narrative that is Important™ to me. 
> 
> However, it felt like suitable closure to have Zeru offer (and Callum tentatively accept) being a back-up dad for him, without trying to step on or hijack the relationship Callum and Harrow had. 
> 
> Blended families are complicated, what can I say. 
> 
> So yeah. Zeru's not replacing Harrow any time soon, and if I do a sequel (I'll probably do a sequel), and Harrow comes back (ftr - Im Team Harrow-in-Pip's-Body but I haven't got a great idea how to make that happen yet), Harrow gets called Dad and Zeru gets called Zeru.


	24. The Bridge Between

The sun shone brightly on another gorgeous morning in Xadia, and two teenagers and a baby dragon were travelling on the road East.

“For the last time, Callum, you don’t look _bad_. I'm used to seeing you as a human, so it's kinda weird, but it doesn’t look bad.”

“I just... it’s going to take getting used to,” said Callum, reaching up for what was probably the hundredth time since they’d woken up to poke at the newly-sprouted horns crowning his head. “I didn’t recognize my reflection when I went to get water this morning.” He wrapped his hand around one and idly tugged, marveling again at how _attached_ the thing was.

“Uh, hey, Rayla?”

She looked up from the apple she was peeling with her sword. “Yeah?”

“Are they… good? The horns?”

She frowned at him and raised an eyebrow. “They’re horns.”

“Well, yeah, I mean, uh.” Callum swallowed. “I meant like, they’re not too big, or too small, or—”

Rayla rolled her eyes. “They’re _fine_, Callum.” She sliced off a piece of apple and handed it to him, before cutting herself a piece. “Are all humans this self-conscious about their appearances?”

“I don’t know about _all_ humans… I mean, I’m pretty sure Soren flirts with his reflection, but. Uh…”

“Callum.” Rayla turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye. “They look fine. There’s nothing wrong with ‘em, and nothing wrong with you.” Her eyes darted up and down, taking him in, before she released his shoulder and stepped back. “I dunno, if you want _my _opinion, I think they suit you.”

The blush crept up Callum’s neck and ears once more. Rayla liked the way he looked? “You think so?” he said, smiling shyly at her.

“Yeah. Oh, and your ears turn red when you’re flustered. Your hair doesn't hide them anymore, so. Just thought I'd let you know.” She smirked at him, and turned to keep walking, humming to herself.

The warmth had wrapped its way around Callum’s neck and ears and into his cheeks now, as he watched Rayla saunter away and pop a piece of apple into her mouth. She was so confident, and daring, and such a good friend to him, and the way the sunlight reflected off of her hair and shone faintly through her ears in the morning was really pretty, and –

He almost froze in his tracks, and it dawned on him that he hadn’t thought about his big fat crush on Claudia for several days. In fact, he knew that if he opened his sketchbook right now and flipped through the last week or so of drawings, there’d be almost zero Claudia but a whole bunch of Rayla.

Oh _no_.

Well, if nothing else, he could remind himself that if her uncle was not into the idea of his niece dating a human, he _definitely_ wouldn’t be on board for her dating a half-elf. Yeah. That would help him not make things super awkward with Rayla. His heart hammered in his throat, and he swallowed. 

She turned towards him. “Still moping?”

“Huh?” he said, half dazed. “Oh—no, not really. Just… thinking.” He cleared his throat and jogged to catch up with her. “What’s gonna happen when we meet the Dragon Queen and her council, and I have to explain…” he gestured towards his head. “This?”

Rayla looked up, thoughtful. “Well, no one’s seen an actual half-elf in over a thousand years, so maybe this is your chance to prove everyone wrong. Prove that elves and humans can be unified and work together, that we can put aside our differences and just… coexist. Assuming humans quit dark magic, of course.”

Callum tapped his chin in thought. “You know, even if we know now that magic came so easily to me because I’m supposed to have it, I still think I know how humans can connect to primal sources. Villads could sail while blind, and Ez talks to animals, which is the Earth Primal, right? That’s almost a magic on its own.” Rayla nodded. “So maybe those abilities are there because humans _can_ have magic, it’s just… different. Not wrong, not lesser, just different. And who knows, maybe with those kinds of connections, humans could have Primal magic, too.”

“You think so?”

He shrugged. “Your uncle said that elves can connect to more than one source, even ones they weren’t born with. I don’t see why humans can’t do the same thing.” He smiled. “Maybe once I learn more Sky magic, I’ll give the other Primal sources a shot.” 

Rayla hummed approvingly. “Y’know, maybe it’s a good thing you’re actually a half-elf. You’re kind of an elf, but you’re also human. You can advocate for humans in Xadia, and elves in the Pentarchy. And you’re Ez’s brother, but you’ve spent all this time with Zym, so you’re kind of like _his_ big brother, too. You, better than anyone else, can broker peace and go between.”

“Like a bridge,” Callum said quietly.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “A bridge between our two worlds.”

The two of them smiled at each other, the heat rising in both their cheeks now as they gazed into each other’s eyes. And then, almost as if he was intentionally breaking the tension, Zym jumped up to Callum’s shoulder and gave him a zappy kiss.

Callum laughed. “I think that means its time for flying practice.” Zym yipped happily and flapped down, gamboling in the path as though to lead Callum forward.

“You two have fun,” Rayla said. “There’s a town a bit further down the road, so I’m gonna stock up on water and berry juice, since we’ll be coming up to a desert fairly soon. Maybe find you some gloves, too.”

As she headed down the path, Callum looked down at Zym. “Want to see how high we can get up a tree without climbing?” Zym yapped with glee, and sprang into the air, flying towards the tree line. Callum inhaled, held and exhaled, breathing and centering, before snapping out his own wings and following the baby dragon.

The wings and horns were new and scary, but as he launched himself towards a branch and felt the wind whistle through his hair, Callum felt, for the first time in his life, like everything was right about him.

He stood on the branch of the tree, gazing out towards the Eastern horizon. It was going to be a long journey still, and once they delivered Zym home that was only the beginning.

But facing the morning sun, the wind swirling around him and the dragon prince, Callum knew they had to try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of it! Thanks so much everyone for going with me on this journey - I'm thrilled at the response and feedback!
> 
> I decided that, like the show, there's gonna be one more chapter... the end credits drawings! Dunno when that will go up, i've been chipping away at them in my free time so it may be a week or two. But there will be one final chapter where it will just be some drawings from the story (so y'all can see what I had in mind :3). 
> 
> See you then! <3


	25. Art and Final Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The art I promised everyone at the end of the story + some updates!

WOW!!

I did not expect response to this story to be so huge. 

A big thank you to everyone who read the story and commented - your comments popping up in my inbox give me so much life and really made me feel excited about a fandom again. 

Several of you have asked about the sequel, and I'm pleased to say that yes, there will be a sequel! I'm currently writing out chapter 1 (I had written more, but Season 3 kinda derailed things what with Amaya being in Lux Aurea for most of the season, Viren's shenanigans and that whole climatic battle at the storm spire - which, OMG). I'll be incorporating some of Season 3 and tweaking a few details I got flat wrong (such as Runaan's husband being a Moonshadow elf named Ethari, not a Sunfire elf named Belenus), so if there's details inconsistent with this story, that's why. Even if I"m going wildly off the rails re: Callum meeting his dad, I do like to be as close to canon as I can be. 

Keep an eye out, I'll be posting it soon!

And now, some arts :)

First is Zeru and post-transformation Callum 

Then just a few doodles that I intended to be "credit doodle" scenes but I ran out of time and didn't do them all as fancy as the first one.

Once again, thank you all SO MUCh for reading my story! You've made this fandom grandma very, very happy indeed ^___^

**Author's Note:**

> It's been almost 10 years since I've posted fanfic, be gentle with your fandom grandma :)


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